Rumors of Death
by Stryder2008
Summary: Dean is given two choices say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. After he uncovers a plot to destroy Sam, he says yes to both. Dean becomes a powerful demon with angelic grace and the one person that can still influence him? Sam. Now at the top of heaven and hell's hit list can the brothers outrun angels and demons? Angst/Family NO SLASH Powers!Dean Powers!Sam
1. Chapter 1

**Rumors of Death**

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found. _

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell? _

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

___* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**I do not have a Beta for this story, all errors are mine and mine alone.**

**Chapter 1**

_The Game Changer_

_~October 2008~_

The air reeked of death and decay. But that wasn't so unusual for a cemetery; or to be more specific, cemetery adjacent. Over the years it had become a familiar smell, one that meant justice and duty. But as Sam Winchester stared at the fresh grave marked only with a wooden cross, he couldn't stop the single tear that rolled down his cheek. He'd honestly thought that he could save his brother. But in the end, he'd been as helpless to save Dean, as Dean had been to save him from the yellow-eyed demon. And now, as he threw the last of the dirt onto the grave, Sam knew that he had no clue what to do with himself. He'd sent Bobby away in an attempt to deal with the death of his only remaining family. But no amount of time with the eviscerated body of his older brother had prepared him for laying Dean to rest…for covering him with rock and dirt amid empty acrid silence, in a field of blood. Because that was the best way to describe the place that Sam had chosen for Dean's final resting place.

Ruby had been trying to get Sam's attention since returning from the far off reaches of hell that Lilith had relegated her to. But he wasn't quite ready to talk to the demon, as a matter of fact if he saw her in person, he wasn't sure that he wouldn't just kill her outright. It didn't matter if she'd been in on the plan and what had happened to Dean or not. He wasn't ready to allow the demon into his life, not yet. He had to deal with this devastating loss and then he might be able to think about revenge. Sam knew that that was coming soon, but not yet.

He stood up and walked over to the Impala, his throat closing in a painful wash of emotion at the sight of his brother's beloved car. Sam inhaled a deep breath, the woodsy scent mixing with the smell of death in an odd mixture and then pulled open the rear door on the driver's side. He removed his brother's pearl handled Taurus and turned back toward the grave. His vision blurring once again as the tears threatened to fall.

Twenty minutes later he'd buried the silver gun just beneath the surface and covered it with dirt. Turning back toward the car he slowly closed the distance and pulled open the drivers side door, it felt wrong. The seat felt wrong, as he slid into the place that his brother had occupied for the majority of their lives.

XXXX

_~One Year Later~_

Sam pulled into the parking area near the edge of the field where his brother's body was buried. It had taken months for him to accept that he couldn't bring his brother back. So the only thing that he'd had left now…was revenge. It was a complete turnaround from where he'd been when he'd been here last year. He hadn't talked to Bobby in 7 months. He'd barely talked to Ruby, although she kept trying to use Lilith as a way into his life. Mostly he'd spent his days scouring every text that was ever published for a way to reverse a Cross-Roads deal. So far he'd had no luck. But Sam had made his brother a promise…a silent promise that day he'd buried him. That he would return in exactly one year and he wouldn't have broken that promise for anything in the entire world.

He tried desperately to avoid thinking about what exactly had been happening to his brother for the last 12 months in hells furnace. Sam had been careful not to ask Ruby about what it had been like in hell for her. He wasn't sure that he could handle that level of truth from the demon. The dreams were enough. Just dealing with the start of his dreams had been enough of a challenge for Sam to deal with.

Two months ago he'd started dreaming of his brother. It was like Dean didn't really remember their lives, almost like he didn't remember Sam. But the essence was still Dean. In these dreams there was something different about the oldest Winchester. He was colder and yet more rational about how he handled the situations he found himself in. The hunts were less messy. Like he'd planned them down to the smallest detail and then executed that plan with a ruthless passion.

It was like he was always thinking about the consequences of his actions, but that was tempered by Dean's selfish need to get what he wanted. Sam didn't really understand why his mind had changed his brother. It wasn't like they'd been together in the dreams either; it was more like he was the conscience to Dean's actions. Somehow Sam was able to influence Dean's choices as he roamed through this life.

Sam's eyes roamed the area and then widened, as he got closer to the small wooded area where Dean was buried. The trees were blown over like a bulldozer had come through. The grass flattened against the ground like an enormous animal had slept there recently. But as Sam spun and looked at the surrounding area he realized that the trees had been blown _away _from the gravesite. He jogged the remaining distance and then sank to his knees as they turned to rubber beneath him. The grass was a dirty brown color; the dirt from the grave had exploded outward creating a large gaping hole at the epicenter. His gaze shifted from the hole to the woods and back again as he tried to understand what could have happened.

Something had come after Dean's body. Because Sam couldn't think of anything that wasn't supernatural that could have done the damage that he was seeing. What could the monsters want with his brother's body? None of this made any sense to him.

Anger flooded his brain and his vision took on a thin red sheen as he continued to stare blankly at the hole. Hadn't those demonic sons a bitches done enough? They'd taken Sam's father and then they'd managed to take his brother in the most violent act of aggression that Sam had ever witnessed…and now they'd come after his corporeal body…why?

"He isn't in there, Sam Winchester." A deep voice said, interrupting the introspection that was happening inside the young man's head.

Sam scrambled to his feet and spun around simultaneously pulling his weapon from the back of his jeans, taking aim at the unknown man. His brain took in the image of the man standing less then 10 feet from him. The tan trench coat billowing in the light breeze, the bright blue tie standing out against the white shirt and dark business suit. But what really caught Sam's attention was the brilliant azure blue color of the man's eyes.

_He looks like an accountant._ Sam thought.

"Who are you?" He growled as he aimed directly at the man's chest.

"I am not your enemy, Sam." The man said as he stared evenly at the tall young man with a pistol aimed center mass on his chest.

"I don't know who the hell you are." Sam shot back.

"I'm an angel of the lord." The answer was simple, like he expected that just because he was an 'angel' Sam should immediately trust him…well they'd had too many run-ins with the supernatural to trust anything that wasn't human.

"What the fuck…there's no such thing." He said through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing for moment of contemplation and then widening as he shook his head. A soft breeze in the field caught his hair and wafted it gently into his eyes as he stared.

"I can assure you that there are and that I am one of them. My name is Castiel." The voice never changed pitch as the man spoke. It never dipped or rose like voices tended to when a person was lying. And Sam should know; he was accustomed to being the one the lying to other people.

"I don't give a shit who you are…where the hell is my brother's body!" Sam yelled. He'd had enough of this crazy son of a bitch and his riddles.

"Dean Winchester is no long your concern." Castiel said quietly as he turned and walked around the grave, ignoring the fact that Sam's barrel followed his progression.

"He's my brother. He'll always be my concern. What the hell do you know about it?"

"A lot." The angel answered easily.

Sam's eyes shifted to him and then narrowed in suspicion. "I don't think you're an angel…I think you're a freak with a complex."

The dark head tilted to the side and then the angel narrowed his eyes again. "You do not believe angels or god?" He said. Sam's mouth worked as he debated on telling this _angel_ that he 'sure as hell did believe in god'! The man stepped back and then suddenly the whole sky went dark as lightning flashed in, what had recently been, a clear spring day only seconds before. Sam couldn't even process what he was seeing as the dark shadows of what looked like wings appeared from no where and extended out on either side of the man's shoulders. "I am an angel of the lord." The voice changed, deepened, and boomed like thunder through the field. Sam could feel the vibrations of power as they rumbled through his chest. The bright yellow light returned within moments and the sky cleared.

"I don't understand…" Sam whispered as the gun dipped slightly.

"You are not meant to Sam. But we need your help." Castiel continued.

Sam's gaze flickered up and met the angel's in confusion. "We? Come on, what can I possibly do to help an angel?" And the bitch of the matter was…that he truly didn't understand how he could help. Angels were all powerful, hell they had God backing their damned decisions, for crying out loud. What could they possibly need from him?

"Sam, your brother made a deal in hell." Castiel began. He was under strict orders to limit what Sam knew, but he also needed to gain the young man's trust and this seemed like the best way to accomplish that.

"Well he tended to do things like that." Sam said quickly.

"This wasn't a cross-roads deal, Sam. It was a deal with the agents of heaven." Castiel said quietly. He watched as the youngest Winchester's eyebrows rose. "He also made a deal with the agents of hell. He was given certain…powers…by both factions." Sam's face shifted from worry to shock and then to confusion.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked. He was staring at the angel, waiting for him to stop talking in riddles and say something with some clarity.

"It means that your brother…changed. Evolved…became something that neither heaven nor hell could control." He breathed evenly as he told the story of Dean and how he'd managed to dupe both the demonic and celestial powers-that-be. "And now he has a bounty on his head…"

Sam barked a laugh and dropped the weapon to his side. "A bounty? Dean managed to fucking trick all of you bastards and now you think I'm going to help you find him? Are you crazy?"

Castiel breathed out slowly, this was not going how he wanted. "I am not trying to trick you into revealing your brother's where abouts…"

"Well, that's good because I have no god damned clue where he is. Last I knew he was dead and buried, because of me." Sam's throat was strained as he swallowed thickly; he hadn't thought that the emotions would still be so strong. But the pain of his brother's sacrifice still seemed to be too fresh for him to cover the raging emotions. It hadn't help him that he'd been surprised like this either.

"Sam, your brother is on a very high level hit list. Demons and angels want his head...and they will _anything_ to get to Dean. Including coming after you." He watched as the younger brother shook his head in denial. Castiel held up his hands before continuing. "I do not want your brother dead. I was tasked with finding him and offering protection."

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't take your word for it." Sam said as he raised the weapon again. At least now he knew that his brother was alive. Dean was different, _but who wouldn't be after being tortured in hell,_ and apparently his brother was a very wanted man…but he was also alive. "He was only gone for a year and it takes more than that to become a demon. So you see…I know you're lying."

Castiel pulled in a long-suffering breath and shook his head at the stubbornness of humans. "Time is different in hell."

"What do you mean?" Sam growled as he stared down the barrel of his pistol at the angel.

"Time is fluid, Sam. It does not always flow as humans are accustomed to. In hell, one month is equal to 10 years. Dean was in hell for a hundred and ten years. He was very diligent in his studies. He managed to change into a demon in ninety years. Angels offered him a way out, but they had to give him access to certain power." Castiel raised an eyebrow before continuing. "He took that power and ran." He glanced at Sam's shocked expression before continuing. "We figured that he would run straight to you...I see we were wrong. I guess hell really does change people."

Sam's mouth worked as he attempted to wrap his head around that. His brother was a _demon_…and apparently some form of angel. He wasn't sure what to do with that information.

XXXX

_~Hell~_

_The chains hung from his wrists like lead weights that were dragging him to deepest chasms of the pit. He spent his days strapped to a rack that burned the flesh from his bones only to have it miraculously heal before the next day started. The holes that were burned into his side every day would fill in with muscle and skin in sick reversal of the torture process...and it hurt just as badly in reverse. The worst had been the days that Alistair had taken his eyes and he couldn't see, he could only hear the cries of innocent souls damned to hell…many of them like him, had been damned…through trying to save someone they loved. He hadn't thought that he would want to count the days…days turned into weeks and weeks turned into years, but he had nothing else to concentrate on here in the pit. There had been nothing to pull his focus but pain and agony…and the constant thoughts of Sammy. Was he okay? Had the demons gone after him after Dean had been torn apart by hellhounds? The 'not knowing' was the worst part of this eternity of fire and brimstone. At least he'd thought that it couldn't get any worse. _

Oh, how wrong he'd been_. Every day Alistair asked him the same question. 'Would he climb down off the rack and take up Alistair's razor? If he did, then the torture would stop.' And for fifty years Dean had told him to 'stick it where the sun don't shine'. But then he'd learned something. He'd learned that there was a key to destroying Sam…and that Sam was the key to destroying the world. He'd crawled down off that rack the same day and he'd never looked back. It had been the easiest decision he'd ever made, next to his decision to sell his soul and bring his brother back. _

_And then the dick-angel had showed up. That had complicated matters. Alistair had taken a keen interest in Dean's education; he'd taken the young soul on as his personal protégé. Which meant that heaven was also interested in what the young man could accomplish with the 'right' persuasion._

_The angel Zachariah had shown up and had promised that, with his help, Dean could save Sam. It was the only real weakness that he had left and they'd exploited it with a ruthless single-minded passion. It still wasn't clear exactly how the angel had managed to infiltrate hell without being recognized, but he had. So Dean had agreed to the angel's terms…the part of him that had already shifted to demon had rejoiced at the thought of duping a real live angel of god. _

_And damn…if he hadn't managed to screw over all of those son's a bitches. It had taken forty years, but Dean had managed it. The last ten years had been spent planning his escape from the pit. No soul…at least no soul he'd ever heard of…had managed to become what he had...a hybrid._

_Dean was both angel and demon. He had the grey-wings to prove it…and the black eyes with bright green irises. It had taken him weeks to learn how to hide both his eyes and his wings once he'd gotten topside. But in true Dean Winchester fashion…he'd figured it out. _

_The desire to hurt and kill was so strong some days that he wondered if he could continue to control it, but it seemed to be tempered by the angelic side. The rage that was always gurgling in his gut was hard to control. He'd managed to keep in check so far, but there had been several close calls. The selfish wants associated with demons made him more worried about himself than going after someone to take the edge off the rage that always just beneath the surface. _

_And then there was the Sam. He had this bone deep need to protect his younger brother from whatever heaven or hell had planned for the kid. When he'd first got topside, he could have sworn that he could feel Sam's presence. Every time that he thought he might lose control to the demonic powers that swirled darkly inside him, Sam's voice was there to stop him. Truthfully, on some occasions it was damn annoying._

_~Topside~_

He watched from the sidelines as the trench coat wearing angel approached Sam. The trees offered very little protection against the angelic senses of the powerful being that stared at his brother. Dean struggled to push down the red glow of anger that surged through him at this angel's audacity. He'd wanted to go to his brother, to try and explain what had happened and why he hadn't come to Sam earlier. Because he couldn't. It wasn't safe…for either of them.

But those feather-brained dicks had been faster.

When he'd finally managed to claw his way out of hell, Dean had needed to put some protections in place…both for him and for Sam. His memory had been all screwed up when he got topside again. He'd known that his brother was important, but he hadn't been able to put his finger on exactly why. The drive to protect Sam had been so strong that it had been difficult for Dean to focus on anything else, but he'd managed. He'd blown out of the spot where his brother had buried him and he'd been on a mission ever since.

Learning to hide what he was had been one hell of a challenge. Those fucking angels didn't exactly give him a manual of what to do with the _grace_ they'd given him. _Although he hadn't exactly held up his end of that deal either._ He thought with a smirk. He'd taken their power and then he'd focused on becoming a hybrid-demon with a single-minded purpose that had both surprised and please Alistair...the master demon had never known about the _grace_ inside of his prize apprentice. He tried not to think about what the first fifty years had been like. He swallowed the need for revenge against the ones that had thought they could control him through fear and pain. He didn't feel fear anymore…only purpose and a need to protect Sam. He supposed it might be possible for him to feel fear in the future…but only if was because of Sammy.

"You can come out of the shadows Dean. I know you are there." Castiel called without turning away from Sam.

The younger brother gulped and his eyes pinned the spot where Dean emerged from the cover of the dense foliage. Dean looked at Sam for the first time in over a hundred and twenty years. Deep down he knew that for Sam it had only been a year, but for him it had felt like a millennium…he wasn't the same person that he'd been when he died. Dean waited for the guilt and pain to assault him…but he felt none of that. He only felt the pull of protection. Sam was his brother and he knew he loved the kid, more than life, but he no longer felt guilty about the death that had driven him down this road. But he would die to protect Sammy from these supernatural asshats that seemed to have set their sights on his brother.

"I wondered when you'd call me out." He said in a jovial tone as he sauntered out into the sunlight. The leather jacket doing little to hide the dark quality that now surrounded him. His gaze jumped between his brother's incredulous expression and the angel's blank stare. "Sammy." He continued.

Sam's mouth had dropped open and he was staring at Dean like he'd grown two heads. "Dean?" Not fifty away was his brother. Dean was standing there in a black leather jacket and dark jeans, his hands stuffed into his pockets in a casual manner.

"Hey'ya Sammy…" He moved closer to his brother, consciously placing himself between him and the angel.

"But…how…I saw…" Sam stuttered as he tried to put some coherence to his thoughts. "The hellhounds…" The horrific night played out before his eyes as he stared at Dean. The screams that he still heard at night echoing through his head as he reached up and scrubbed at his eyes when the bloody images would leave him alone.

Dean shrugged his shoulders and raised an eyebrow as he smiled. "Yeah…that was pretty messy. Those bitches did one of hell of a number on my gorgeous ass. But I fixed it. It took a month, but I fixed it." He held up his arm and slipped the cuff back revealing a sigil that Sam had never seen.

Castiel stepped forward, his eyes going wide in surprise. "That's Enochian…how did you find that?"

Sam watched as his brother shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. But judging by the look on the angel's face, it was a very big deal.

"Oh…ya know…I found it in a book….just laying around, waiting to be read. Contrary to popular belief…I can read. Beautiful people can be smart too…" Dean quipped.

Sam looked…really looked at Dean and he was caught off guard by what he saw there. His brother's eyes were the first things to really catch his attention as Dean stepped closer. Where there should be white, there was pitch black and in the center where the iris should be…was a jade green ring that almost seemed to glow. He walked forward slowly, closing the distance between himself and his brother; his gaze searching for anything that might be _Dean_…outside of the meat suit.

"I don't understand." Sam said as he stared directly into Dean's inhuman eyes. He reached up and scrubbed a hand across his mouth in confusion.

"I know you don't. But you need to trust me." Dean said, his tone suddenly serious. His gaze flickered up and he blinked slowly, when his eyelids lifted Sam stumbled backwards in surprise. The angel/demon had shifted his eyes from the weird black-green to the subtle dark green that Sam had looked at most of his life. "Can you do that? Trust me?"

Sam's eyebrows furrowed and he looked away. "I…I'm not sure…maybe." He muttered.

Castiel stared at the brothers. He'd been all sent to find and capture the traitor, but as he watched the interaction between Dean and Sam he wondered if maybe his orders were wrong. He pulled his head up and squared his shoulders, he was a soldier, it wasn't his place to question the orders of his superiors. He waited before stepping forward, carefully positioning the handcuffs he carried, the angelic wards on the cuffs mixed with devil's traps, etched into the pure silver would allow him to control Dean's powers.

Dean was so engrossed in waiting for his brother to answer him that he missed the movement of the other angel. Castiel managed to get one of the cuffs on before Dean spun and lashed out with his fist. It slammed into the side of the angel's head and had him reeling backwards before he was able to clamp on the other cuff. Dean hissed in pain as the metal burned with a white-hot glow.

"What are you doing!" Sam cried out as Dean latched onto him and suddenly they were no longer in the gravesite. A dizzy wash of sensations flooded through him as his feet pounded into the dirt of some random place.

Dean bit his lip in pain as the silver burned into his wrist, a memory from the pit shoved its way to the forefront of his thoughts. Alistair standing over him with a white-hot poker. He's laid the glowing end against Dean's body in so many places that none of it had been spared the rising welts and bloody blisters. "Saving you, jackass." He growled.

"Yeah right and I'm just supposed to believe that?" Sam shot back. He yanked his shoulder away from Dean and stalked in the opposite direction his brother was facing.

"Yes you are. Because it happens to be the truth." Dean ground out.

Sam clenched his teeth and his jaw jumped with the increased pressure. "Why should I believe you? How can I know that you're my brother and not some slime bag demon that took his body and learned a few things in hell?" He asked as he turned back around and faced the 'thing' claiming to be his brother.

"Slime bag…that's the best you got?" Dean said as he straightened up and shook his head with a grimace. "God, I thought I taught you to insult better than that. You always were such a bitch, Sammy." Sam just shook his head and Dean continued. "When you were seven you broke your arm jumping out of a window because you thought that Batman could fly. I took you to the emergency room on the handle bars of my bike because dad was out hunting." There was no emotion to his voice. It was almost like he was reading it off a queue card instead remembering something that had happened to them when they were young.

Sam stared at the demon/angel in surprise, he'd nearly responded with his patented 'jerk' after his brother called him a 'bitch'. But he wasn't one hundred percent that this actually _was_ Dean. That was such a random memory that it had him at least considering that this _might_ be his brother. He stood up straight and then walked over to a tree, leaning against it as he folded his arms. "You should know…you were Superman and you never tried to jump…How are you out?" he asked simply.

Dean's eyebrows came together and pulled in a long breath. "It's complicated."

"Then un-complicate it." Sam said flatly. He wasn't going anywhere with this thing until he had some explanations.

"I guess I found a loop-hole in the system." Dean said.

"A loop-hole? A loop-hole to hell?" Sam's mouth worked and he snorted with derision. "I don't think those exist."

Dean raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Obviously they do or I wouldn't be standing here arguing with you about their existence. Now do you want to argue with me, or would like to know _why_ I crawled outta hell?"

Sam gulped his initial response to the snarky comment and waved a hand for Dean to continue.

"Demons wanted me to start the apocalypse. Well more accurately they wanted me to be a pawn in their scheme with the angels to open the first seal and then _you_ were supposed to start the apocalypse." Dean watched as Sam's face turned to ash and he stared at the point just over Dean's left shoulder for longer than necessary as Sam processed that the demons weren't done fucking with him yet.

"I was supposed to start…an apocalypse? Like outta the bible?" Sam knew the demon blood that still burned in his veins had been put there for a reason, but they'd never been able to find out exactly what the plan had been. Anything beyond what the yellow-eyed demon had wanted had been hidden from them.

"Yup. But don't worry little brother. I had your back. When I discovered this whole little scenario…" He 'air-quoted' with his fingers before continuing. "I crawled off that rack and made it my numero uno priority to become a demon, thus stopping their plan in its tracks."

"Wait…you purposely became a demon? To save me?" Sam felt a whole new level of guilt bubble up from his soul. Having his brother go to hell for him was bad enough. But knowing that Dean had purposely become a…_demon_…was nearly impossible to take.

"Yeah well…if I was a demon then I wasn't a _righteous man_ anymore and they couldn't use me to break the first seal. I'm sure they found another man to do it…but it wasn't gonna be me." He said as the black cloud of rage boiled forward and his eyes shifted from green and black to completely black. Sam watched the change and he sank to his ass on a piece of deadfall under the weight of what he'd learned.

"But a demon…Dean. Jesus…a demon." He said as he waived his hand at Dean.

"You can keep saying it like that, but at the end of the day it'll still be true." Dean focused on pushing the anger back down and his eyes shifted back to the multi-colored surface that Sam had been looking at.

"Can you make your eyes…ya know…normal?" He asked.

Dean rolled his black eyes and nodded. "I can…it gives me a headache to keep them this way." He blinked and Sam found himself staring into the very human eyes of his brother.

"Thank you…so what about the angel stuff?" Sam asked quietly. He'd seen his brother's reaction to the other angel and the silver cuffs. His eyes cut down to Dean's wrist as he remembered the warded silver. He cringed when he saw the red-blistered skin beneath the single cuff…some of the blisters had popped and blood was dripping off the ends of Dean's fingers into the dirt.

Dean shrugged. "Kids play really. It wasn't any different than when I play poker. I just had to know what both sides wanted and what they were willing to give up. And then I agreed to do their dirty work and viola…I was able to climb out with some bonus toys." He grinned and reached up to pull a stick from the tree and proceeded to beat the ground with it. The silver cuff spinning on his other wrist as he did.

"What kind of 'bonus toys'?" Sam said as he stood up and moved to a tree and leaned against it.

"Like I have _grace_, just like a regular angel and I have all the powers of a demon." He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. Having the powers of heaven and hell at ones disposal. Castiel had seemed pretty concerned about Dean having both of these abilities and Sam wondered why. He knew that he'd never heard of anyone having both of them before, but why would that actually scare an angel?

"I also managed to get my hands on one of these little beauties." Dean continued as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a long silver blade.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "And what the hell is that thing?"

Dean smirked. "An angel blade…it's the only thing on this earth that can actually _kill_ an angel."

"Why do you have that?" Sam wondered aloud.

Dean barked a laugh. "Because they all want my ass dead! Angels, demons, and everything in between…and I'm not gonna let that happen."

"So where does that leave me?" Sam's voice was soft as he looked up at his brother through the fringe of his bangs. Dean had become something that both heaven and hell feared…so where did that leave him? Should he be afraid of his brother…of what he'd become?

"Stop being such a little bitch. I already told you, Sam I don't want to hurt you. I can't hurt you." He said. The flippant tone was gone and he was staring earnestly at his little brother. Dean's entire body as radiating with the intensity of that last sentiment.

"You have no idea how important you are, Sam. Even the demons don't know how important you are…but the angels do." Dean answered. His eyes shifted back to the demon black-green as he looked intensely at Sam. "You can end all of this…you can shut down hell."

Sam's eyes pulled wide and he gasped in surprise. "What?" He stood up and started pacing the small the clearing. He was ignoring the cold that was seeping into his bones as he pulled his arms around his stomach in an unconscious gesture of self protection.

Dean smiled. "You can slam the gates of hell closed…forever."

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _So this fiction wouldn't leave me alone so it is being added to my works in progress. I hope that that there is interest in seeing it continued. If you guys want me to continue this, please leave a review so I know whether or not to push on. If no reviews, then I may pull it back off and focus on the other stories. I will post on this on Monday's and maybe earlier if there is enough of a response. _

**Please Review: So I know whether to continue or not.**


	2. My Brother the Hybrid

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Chapter 2**

_My Brother the Hybrid_

Castiel stared at the spot where both the Winchesters had been standing only a second ago. He couldn't believe that he'd fallen for Dean's childish trick. _Get close enough to Sam and then use the teleporting thing to whisk away the younger Winchester._ Part of him admired the tenacity of the human hybrid and part of him wanted to tear the boy apart. It wasn't often that another being got the best of Castiel and he didn't like it. The combined power of the angel and the demon pooling around inside the traitor had made him impossible for Castiel to track. His superiors weren't going to be happy with him.

He wasn't very high on the chain of command…he hadn't been lying when he'd told Dean that. He was old and he'd been on earth at its inception and he'd never really interacted with humans. But he hadn't laid all his cards on the table either. He was a skilled tracker and he had the ability to locate those who did not wish to be found. Castiel knew that Zachariah had it in for the oldest Winchester. The boy had managed to humiliate the high level angel and that wouldn't go unpunished. He shuddered as he thought of what that might entail. Demons weren't the only ones that knew how to torture a soul…and angels had been at it since the dawn of time.

A sudden flutter near him made him cast his eyes off to his right. He sighed internally when he noticed the archangel.

"Uriel." He said coldly. The emotion completely wiped from his voice, his hand drifting into the pockets of his trench coat. The one place where he kept his blade hidden all the time...out of sight, but right at hand.

The angel was wearing a strong African American man in his late forties. The host was a powerful representation of a human male and seemed exude the influence that the archangel desired. "Castiel." He glanced around the empty area. "I had assumed you could capture one human. I see I was misguided."

Castiel glared at him "The hybrid showed up."

Uriel's brown eyes snapped to his. "Then I should be looking at the traitor _and_ the younger Winchester. Why am I only looking at you?" His voice was angry as he spat the words out.

"The hybrid is…" Castiel started.

"I don't want excuses, Castiel. I want results. Find them. Bring Sam Winchester to me…and his brother will follow." Uriel's cheek jumped as he clenched his teeth.

Castiel swallowed the argument that he felt building within him. It was never a good idea to argue with one of the archangels…and Uriel really was a dick.

"I will find them and I will bring Sam to you." He said.

XXXX

Sam followed the broad back of of the hybrid. He couldn't help but look for any evidence of the noticeably absent wings on Dean's shoulders as he did.

"They're not gonna sprout out of my shoulder blades, Sam." Dean said without looking back.

Sam tripped slightly in surprise, but he refused to answer so he swallowed and kept his eyes trained straight in front of himself so that he could avoid tripping over the rocks in the trail. Dean was whistling some AC/DC tune and that was creating a very confused internal state for Sam. He'd seen enough things that were different about Dean at this point that he was beginning to wonder what had happened while he'd been in hell. Dean didn't seem to be overly concerned about anything. It was like things just weren't affecting him…at all. Every once in a while, he'd glance over his shoulder to reassure himself that Sam was still behind him. He'd grin that cocky self-assured grin that Sam had seen his entire life and then he'd go back to whistling. _Off-key_…Sam noticed. _He's doing that on purpose._ He thought in irritation. He knew that his brother had perfect pitch and that the only time he sang off-key was to piss off Sam. Which was one more thing that this demon shouldn't know about.

"So where are we going?" Sam couldn't take the silence or the crappy tune anymore.

Dean held up the wrist with the cuff still attached. "Gotta get this little piece of jewelry off." Sam grimaced at the blood that was running down his brother's arm and dripping off his elbow into the dirt.

"Does…does it hurt?" Sam knew that it did…it _had_ to…how could it not. But he didn't know what Dean was capable of feeling anymore, so he asked.

"Yes. It fucking hurts." Dean said flippantly. The irritation evident in his rough voice as he stopped and turned back toward his brother, his face unreadable. "Shit still hurts, Sam. That doesn't ever go away."

"I thought…that maybe…" He stumbled over the words. Dean was right. He _had_ assumed that his brother wouldn't feel pain the same way he had before he'd gone to hell. Maybe it was the fact that Sam knew what the demons could do and he'd assumed that it would have burned out all of Dean's pain receptors. The demons that Sam had met seemed to be impervious to pain and he didn't know enough about angels to guess what the hell they felt.

"That's not…what…" Sam started. He was a little caught off guard by Dean's ability to see what his intentions had been.

Dean held up his hand and huffed. "Yes, it is. Let's just get the hell outta here, okay? Then you can grill me all you want about this shit. I'm not saying I'll answer, but you can ask. And right now, I need to get this..." He held up his left wrist and narrowed his eyes at the crimson staining his skin. "…off. I can't heal properly with it on."

Dean knew that he was revealing a potentially deadly piece of information to Sam. _But, hell, he was going to have to trust his brother at some point._ Sam was damn smart and it wasn't gonna be to too long before he realized that he was missing a vital piece of information. The fact that would inform Sam that Dean had neglected to mention there was an seriously steep _cost_ to closing up the shop in hell. He shook his head and started walking again.

Sam narrowed his eyes and then nodded as he too started walking again.

XXXX

When they finally pushed out of the foliage and into the bright afternoon light, Sam was shocked to see the Impala sitting there. A part of him had assumed that Dean had teleported them a lot further from the grave. "The closer you are to your enemy, is the safest place you can be." Dean said as he walked up to the car and slid his fingers along her shiny obsidian paint. "Especially, when it's an over confident tracker. You took good care of my wheels…"

"Uh…yeah." Sam answered. He watched as the hybrid pulled the driver's side door open and sank into the soft leather with a sigh of contentment. He leaned his head back against the headrest and groaned in an almost sexual manner. It was such a _Dean_ thing to do that it caused a lump of guilt to settle in Sam's gut.

"I missed you, baby." Dean muttered as his fingers slid along the steering wheel and caressed the dashboard.

"I can leave you two alone…if you want." Sam said with a raised eyebrow and a scowl of disgust. The actions of the hybrid were too similar to Dean's and it was just one more thing that brought Sam closer to perhaps...believing that there might be a piece of his brother left inside the abomination that was wearing Dean's body.

"He doesn't mean it, baby. Sammy's never understood us." He said in a soothing voice. Dean's fingers sliding along the seat, the leather soft supple beneath his fingertips. "You coming or what?" He reached out, knuckles down and waited for the keys, which Sam dropped into his opened palm after he waggled his fingers in anticipation.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked as he huffed and walked around to the passenger side.

Dean laughed. "My god, Sam…I never realized how many questions you ask." He turned toward his brother and shook his head with a smirk, his black-green eyes flashing with inappropriate humor.

Sam's mouth dropped open and he looked at Dean like he'd lost his mind. "What?"

"Dude, you're not Sherlock Holmes…if anything you're Watson and I'm Sherlock." Dean's tone shifting to amusement as he stared at the bitch-face that Sam threw in his direction.

"Seriously…Sherlock references? Stop teasing me like you're him." Sam said through clenched teeth as he glared at the demon-hybrid. Sam had known that keeping his personal feelings strictly business where the hybrid was concerned was going to be a challenge. But every time it..._no he_...did something that was either in character for Dean...or very, very _out_ of character for Dean...it made Sam watch what _he_ said and _did_ around Dean more carefully. He was getting less comfortable...not more comfortable.

"I am him." It said as the smile faded.

"Fine...can you switch your eyes." Sam asked as he turned to stare at Dean.

He huffed in irritation and then blinked, his eyes shifting to human. "You know...if you're going to accept me...you have to accept these." He gestured toward his eyes. "This is what I am now, Sammy. This is who I am. You're gonna have to come to terms with that if we're gonna work together."

A growl of frustration resounded throughout the cabin of the car as Dean made his feelings known at their current situation. "We're going to Bobby's." He finally said. Dean knew he was laying it on a little thickly, but he couldn't let Sam see how badly the rage was boiling away his control. The angel side of his soul was fighting like hell to control the blackness of his demonic side, but it wasn't a full-grace. He hadn't realized that until he met the other angel in the cemetery. He should have been able to hear what was being said between angels...and he couldn't. So that meant that he wasn't fully _powered up. _He'd only been given a part of an angel's grace, enough to give him wings and most of their powers (which he still wasn't sure how to use properly). He wasn't able to tap into their 'chatter', but he was able to sense their presence. The only person alive that Dean could potentially work with, besides Sam, was Bobby. There was the strong possibility that the old hunter would try and kill him before Dean had a chance to prove that he was still _Dean_.

He'd taken that into consideration when deciding their next move. Dean didn't trust anyone beyond Sam at this point. He glanced over at his brother…it was apparent that Sam didn't share this point of view. He'd been brutally honest about the fact that he didn't think that Dean was still Dean. And yeah, there were things that were different, but on the whole? He still wanted to be a part of Sam's life and he knew that he _needed_ Sam's influence on him to help him stay _good_.

Sam's mouth dropped open in shock and he started to say…_something_. He had no idea what to say. They _couldn't _go to Bobby. He had essentially wiped Bobby Singer out of his life the moment Dean's soul had been ripped out of his body. "Look…I haven't…I mean…" Sam scrubbed his hand through his hair with enough force that he pulled several strands of brown hair out. If he didn't look at the eyes, he could almost pretend that it was the old Dean…back with him on a regular old hunt. A small part of him was hoping that the hybrid would lose patience with him and just kill him. That way he didn't have to see how this whole thing played out. He wouldn't have to see the moment that _it_ lost control and proved that he wasn't Dean…that this was only a demonic tainted version of Sam's older brother. The mere fact that Dean had suffered enough while he'd been in hell to become this_ thing_…Sam's eyes flashed to his left and he swallowed thickly…was making him want to grab the whiskey bottle from the back seat and down the whole damn thing. Maybe if he drank himself into oblivion then he wouldn't have to look at what had happened to his brother because of him.

Dean watched as Sam started break down in front of his eyes. Something had happened _to _Sam after he'd been dragged to hell, he just didn't know what it was. He cracked his back as stared out the window of the Impala as she ate up the blacktop. He looked back at Sam for a moment before speaking. "I'm not the threat here, Sammy."

"You're not my brother either." Sam said coldly. While a part of him knew that this _thing_ sitting next to him might have once _been_ Dean…it wasn't anymore. Even it looked like him. "How do I know you're not gonna just kill me when we're done with whatever…it is you want?" He looked over his shoulder and glared at Dean.

A pained look passed quickly across the hybrid's face before he buried it. It almost looked like an actual emotion. "You think I would turn around and kill my baby brother in his sleep...after going to all that trouble to save your scraggly ass?" He growled before turning back toward the road.

Sam refused to acknowledge the fact that the hybrid had referred to him as his 'baby brother'. He wouldn't let the thing see that it was getting to him. How could it not? The references to them being 'brothers' were coming non-stop and he knew that _it_ was doing it on purpose. Dean had been a lot of things…but he wasn't stupid. "Stop it." Sam ground out as the rage built in his gut.

It raised an eyebrow and shrugged indifferently. "Stop what?"

Sam's anger exploded. "Stop acting like him! Stop acting like you're my brother!"

"Dickhead…I _am_ your brother. Just a little less morally bound…oh and I'm pretty much just worried about me…and you…and I wanna kill every damn demon and angel we can find." He answered as he rolled his black-green eyes and Sam found that he was sickly fascinated by the sight. He huffed when Sam flinched at his eyes...he blinked hard and they shifted back to jade green again.

Sam shook his head and leaned his head against the passenger door letting his eyelids fall closed in an effort to ignore the man seated in the drivers seat. "Whatever." He said.

"So that's it? You're just gonna roll over and what? Ignore the fact that I'm in the car?" He was watching Sam intently and completely disregarding the road. "I went to hell for you, Sam…suffered unimaginable tortures for decades. The least you can do is show me _some_ respect." His raspy voice had shifted to ice cold as he stared straight at Sam.

Sam's eyes popped open and he flashed his eyes in the hybrid's direction. "_Dean_ went to hell for me…and even if you _are _him…you're still _not_ him."

"Yeah, that's a logical argument. Tell me Sam, did you even give a rat's ass that I was rotting in hell for the last hundred years? That I was suspended from iron chains that pierced my both wrists, my ankles, a huge hook, _that was holding me floating over hell fire_, rammed through my collarbone and out my back…or that they'd shoved another iron anchor into my ribs…just to make sure the others didn't _pull_ out. They made what the hellhounds did, look like a boo-boo. But guess what Sammy…there are no mothers in hell to kiss those 'lesions' better."

Dean watched as Sam's face drained of all color as he explained, in vivid detail, exactly what the first year of his _after_life in hell had consisted of. But he wasn't done with his little brother yet. Sam had been tossing accusations at him since he'd grabbed Sam in the cemetery field. And Dean was sick of being his punching bag.

"I begged for help, Sam…I begged you to help me…and in the end I had to help myself...so that I could help you." He glared at the horrified face of his baby brother. "And do you know why I did that, Sam? Why I betrayed both heaven and hell? Because _they_ were coming after _you_." There it was…it was finally out there, his greatest weakness, Sam. As awful as hell had been, Dean had at least managed to find his _place_ in that flaming pit of death and pain. But as soon as they'd threatened to go after Sam? _Oh…then it was on bitches._ He remembered the decision and what it had cost him.

Sam didn't know what to say to that. His hand had come up to cover his mouth as he held in the soft cry of alarm as his brother's time in hell was laid out in horrifyingly clear detail. "I don't understand."

"Look, I'm back to make sure that they don't get what they want. Demon's want you as Lucifer's meat suit and I still don't know what the hell the angels want…beyond using you as a key to the whole shebang." He said.

Sam's eyebrows rose into his hairline. "Wait…what?" The demon's wanted _what_?

The hybrid shook his head in irritation. "Not right now Sam. I'm sick of explaining things to you that you don't even believe. Just get some sleep." He turned back toward the road before Sam had a chance to answer.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _You guys seemed to really like the direction this one is headed in, so I am posting early since the chapter is done. Thank you to anyone that I can't PM for the review…Nina, Tillypuitan…and the guests._

**Please Review: As this is a very original work for me, I need the insights.**


	3. The Diner

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 3**

_The Diner_

Dean inhaled as he drove along the lonely highway. His thoughts were somewhat restful (as restful as a demon's thoughts could be)as he stared out into the darkness. It was odd…he'd noticed that he didn't even need the headlights to see where he was going. One of the advantages of the demon-angel thing, he had amazing night vision…_without the goggles._ He thought with amusement. When he'd crawled out of the pit, he'd been chaotic inside, he could focus his thoughts on anything but violence. He couldn't concentrate on anything for long periods of time, his mind would wander and he would get pulled into a loop of ghoulish memories that took days for him to pull out of. He'd wake up in random places, with no memory of how he'd gotten there. Sometimes they were okay places, like public restrooms or movie theaters. But sometimes they weren't. Sometimes they were caves marked in sigils…always written in blood. He had no clue whose blood had been used to decorate those places and he didn't know what they had been for.

He thought about their destination and swallowed hard. His motives for going to Bobby weren't entirely pure. He needed to know what the old hunter could tell him about his current condition. It wasn't going to be easy getting the old man to believe that he didn't want to hurt Sam or him for that matter. But Dean didn't have any other choices. He couldn't exactly go to the public library for the types of books he needed access to.

A sign off to the right caught his attention. 'Randy's Diner'. He smiled at the thought of a hamburger and maybe…some pie. _Man could I go for a piece of pie._ He thought as the saliva pooled in his mouth at the mere thought of the pastry. Plus Sam was looking far too thin lately and Dean needed to get the kid back into fighting shape…and fast. They didn't have a lot of time.

The diner parking lot was half empty. Dean pulled into a vacant parking space and glanced over at Sam's sleeping form. He reached out and was just about to tap Sam on the shoulder when his brother groaned in his sleep and his face pinched in very real pain. "I'm sorry…no wait…" The words sounded as though they'd been ripped from Sam's soul and Dean noticed tears slipping between the soft brown lashes only to slide down his pale cheek.

Whatever Sam was dreaming about it was obviously painful and that meant that it concerned Dean. "Sam." He said. He didn't want to startle his brother and cause him to lash out as he woke up. "Sam…." He said a little louder. Still no response. "Sam!" He yelled.

XXXX

"_Did you think I'd make it that easy on you Sam?" Dean's voice was as hard as ice and it was cutting into Sam like a razorblade. "That I'd just walk back into your life, give ya a hug…and life would go right back to hunting as usual? That's naïve, Sam."_

_Sam was tied to a chair, his arms wrenched tightly behind him and his legs lashed to the feet of the sturdy wooden chair. His eyes flickered up to his brother and he had to look away from the hate that he could see that was nearly radiating off of Dean. And it was all being directed at him._

"_Look at me when I'm talking to you." Dean said coldly, his hand slapping Sam across the face...hard. He ran the silver blade along Sam's cheek and the crimson liquid that blossomed there was like pure joy inside his black soul. Watching someone suffer was like a Sunday picnic for him now…and the fact that it was Sam? Oh, that just it made it so much sweeter. _

_Sam pulled his gaze back up and cringed when he saw the pure black of the demon's gaze. There was no ring of green breaking up the obsidian hatred that was plainly visible in those demonic eyes. This wasn't his brother…this was what happened to a soul when it was tortured in hell fire for decades. _

"_I'm sorry…no wait…" Sam muttered as he let his eyes drop back to the floor. He couldn't see Dean this way…the way 'he'd' made him. The guilt was stampeding through him like a herd of wild buffalo and he couldn't seem to control the crushing weight of it._

_His lack of reaction only seemed to piss off the demon more. He flashed forward and pulled the blade across Sam's back. The pain was instant, Sam arched away from the fiery wash and his mouth dropped open in a silent cry of agony. It was more than just the physical pain, it was the bone deep crushing agony of knowing that he was the reason his brother had become this…abomination. Dean had only ever wanted to 'save' people. He'd never been into this life for the violence that it demanded. He just happened to be very good at the violence. But this 'joy' that Sam could sense in his brother as he sliced into Sam's flesh belonged to a monster. This wasn't his brother anymore…hadn't been for a hundred years._

"_It's too little, too late, Sammy." The demon hissed. The blade flashed out again, this time it started the pull across Sam's neck…_

XXXX

A sudden jolt went through Sam's body as he came immediately into full awareness. Something that they'd learned when they'd been kids and their father would wake them up with drills in the middle of the night. "Wh…what…" He stuttered as he swung his arm out in a protective gesture. Dean shifted out of the way and then narrowed his eyes as he watched Sam.

"Whoa…hey…hey…bad dream?" Dean asked as he searched his brother's face for anything out of the ordinary.

Sam blinked slowly as he waited for his brain to sort out the dream and reality. His breaths were coming in ragged pants as he tried to calm his thundering heart. He hated the sick feeling that was still swirling around inside his head as he waited for his eyes to focus. As soon as Dean's face came into view he found himself pressing against the passenger door without even thinking about it.

"Whoa…whoa Sam…it's me." Dean said as he gently pulled the car into a spot and killed the engine, turning his full attention in his little brothers direction. Sam was freaking out about the dream and he was directing that fear at Dean…which meant _he'd _probably been the focus of the dream.

Sam's wide eyes flickered in his direction. He could see the concern behind the green eyes as his brother stared at him. Something about the way he was staring at Sam made him wonder just what the demon was thinking.

Dean lost control of his eyes at exactly the _wrong_ moment. The black-green popping to the surface as his emotions overruled his tenuous control of the powers inside him. Something twisted and shredded inside him as he watched the fear and anger flood across Sam's face as he stared defiantly at Dean. His hands had come up to protect his chest, but he was staring at Dean without blinking.

The hybrid back away and reached up to scrub a hand down his face, allowing it to drop to his side before reaching over and pushing the door open. He stepped out into the early morning air and pulled in a steadying breath. The look on Sam's face was burned into his retinas and he didn't seem to be able to clear it. It wasn't guilt he was feeling; so much as confusion that this should bother him at all. It'd been a hundred years since something _affected_ him. And the mere sight of his brother in pain had reduced him to a state of confusion.

Sam watched as the hybrid exited the car, his expression unreadable. He wanted to follow Dean, but Sam knew that he needed to get his own emotions under control first. He was scared. He was scared of what Dean had become, of what that meant for the world…of what that meant for_ them._ Sam wanted more than anything to believe that his brother was back and that they could return to the easy relationship that they'd had before. But when Dean's eyes had shifted to black-green…it had been painfully clear that there was no going back. What had been done his big brother in hell…couldn't be _undone_. And that was probably the most tragic thing about the fucked up situation.

As the fear receded the anger pushed its way to the front. Lilith had done this…Azazel had done this…hell even their father had contributed to what Dean was now. But most of all it was Sam's fault. He hadn't chosen to get killed in Cold Oak…but his death had been the catalyst for everything that his brother had suffered since. His eyes flashed to where the demon was standing a few feet from the car, his head dropped forward on his chest. Sam watched as he simply stood and breathed in the darkness. Finally, Dean moved toward the entrance of the diner. He didn't check to see if Sam was following him…like he would have before hell. _Just one more thing that's different about you, Dean._ Sam thought silently. He climbed out of the car and inhaled deeply before following Dean into the small ma and pop diner.

Dean was seated in a corner booth. A pretty waitress was obviously in the process of hitting on him. And while he didn't appear to really receptive to the woman's advances, he wasn't coldly pushing her away either. Sam inhaled and walked to the empty seat across from Dean.

"What can I getcha, hon." The woman asked.

"Coffee." Sam said.

"Get some food, Sam." Dean instructed. Sam glanced over at him and narrowed his eyes before nodding to the waitress.

"Denver omelet and pancakes." He said. His gaze flickered back up to Deans as the woman walked away writing on her pad of paper. "You eating…do demons need to eat?" He wasn't trying to be an ass…he _really_ didn't know and he wanted to understand _what_ Dean was now.

Dean could feel his irritation with Sam building the longer his little brother didn't believe that he was _him_. All these questions and accusations that were being thrown in his direction were wearing his control to a paper-thin thickness. "Pie." He said.

Sam tilted his head to the side and then snorted. "Pie?"

"Love me some pie." Dean said evenly.

Sam was just starting to respond when the lights in the diner went out and they were plunged into darkness. His gaze flashed around as he tried to hear what was going on. "What the hell?"

"Sam, stay down." Dean said as he stood and moved closer to the kitchen. A thump behind the closed door had him pulling his gun from the waistband of his jeans. He pushed the door open with the tip of the pistol and peered inside. "Hey…anybody in there?" He called. When he got no answer Dean pushed into the room and slipped along the wall carefully watching for the waitress and the cook.

A hand on his back had him spinning and lashing out with the butt of his pistol. He didn't recognize Sam fast enough to stop the blow and it crashed into his brother's face. The skin split open and blood pooled down face and dripped off his chin. "Ah God…Sammy, I'm…" He wanted to apologize, but he didn't feel sorry. Dean knew that he _should_, but he didn't. Sam had followed him after he'd been told to stay put. So in reality the blood on Sam's face was his own fault. He definitely didn't want to see his brother hurt, but….he growled as parts of his soul warred with one another. The angelic side was stopping him from walking away from Sam and the demonic side blaming his brother for the injury.

Pain lanced through his head and he dropped to his knees as it blinded him momentarily. Dean's fingers clutched at his temples as flash after flash of hell assaulted him.

Sam inhaled and his mouth dropped open in surprise when Dean's gun smashed into his face. His hand coming up to press at the area in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood. He watched, helpless, as Dean fell forward his face a mask of agony. "Dean!"

An arm slipped around Sam's throat and locked into a chokehold. He tried to elbow his attacker in the stomach or throw them over his shoulder. But the tight space in the kitchen was making it impossible for him to get any leverage. His vision was blurring as his windpipe was crushed beneath the supernatural strength of the assailant. "Ak..kkkk…." He managed.

"Calm down, Sam." A raspy voice said in his ear as he dropped into unconsciousness.

Dean tried to push his way back to his feet, but the buzzing inside his head was making it impossible. His peripheral vision caught Sam tumbling to the floor in a boneless heap. "Sam!" He cried. Whatever had been keeping him from worrying about Sam snapped inside his head. But his arms wouldn't cooperate. His arms were wrenched out from under him and he dropped to his chest on the floor. The cuff was attached to his other wrist and suddenly all his buzzing power was absent.

"I am sorry it had to be this way, Dean. But you left me no other choice." Castiel stepped around and the lights flicked back on, illuminating the angels face. He glanced over at Sam's unconscious form and he wondered if the kid had any idea his destiny was. Somehow Castiel doubted it. "I need to take your brother for the time being."

"You hurt him and I swear to god…" Dean seethed. The rage was building like a nuclear weapon inside him and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he exploded. But with his powers incapacitated he needed to use his head. "I'll fucking rip your feathers out, one by one." His voice dropped and went ice cold as he stared at the angel. His eyes shifting between the black-green and completely black.

"What happens to Sam is not my call." Castiel walked around and squatted down, staring at the hybrid in wonder. "I have never seen anything like you, Dean." He raised an eyebrow. "None of us has." He started to say something else, but a sudden flutter had him standing up and moving away from Dean. "Zachariah, Uriel…Sam Winchester is over there." He pointed at the heap on the floor.

The archangel stepped closer to Dean. He pulled his angel blade out and pushed Dean over, so he was looking directly into the eyes of the only living being that had ever betrayed him. "Dean Winchester. I've been looking for you."

"Ya found me…whatcha gonna do with me?" His eyes never shifted from the eyes of the angel as he poured all the malice in his soul into those words.

"Oh, Dean…you're going to help us turn your brother." Uriel said with a smile.

Dean's gaze shifted and his nose started to twitch as black rage rushed through him. He felt the angelic side of his soul bend under the demonic strength, but wrist bracelets he was wearing were controlling both sides. "The hell you say."

Uriel stepped forward and pulled the blade along Dean's cheek. The pain was nearly blinding and he bit his lips closed as a cry of pain built inside him. He hadn't spent decades on the rack without learning how to compartmentalize his pain. "It hurts worse for you…because of the demon side of your soul. Kinda like holy water, the pain will spread like a poison through your system, building to crescendo of agony." He looked at the other two angels. "Too bad we won't be here to see your head explode."

Zachariah stepped forward and roughly yanked Sam up and over his shoulder. Dean watched with a stony expression when Sam didn't so much as twitch. His gaze shifted to Castiel and help narrowed his eyes.

_Damn tracker-angels._ He thought. This Castiel was the best he'd ever seen. He'd managed to track Dean and Sam in less than twenty-four hours. The increasing wash of agony was making it hard to keep his eyes on the angels as they walked toward the door. "I'm gonna kill every single one of you." He growled as he spit blood onto the floor, the liquid had stained his teeth and with his black eyes he looked horrifying.

"Sure you are." Uriel said. He looked over at Castiel and ordered him without another thought. "Stay here until the poison burns his demonic soul back to hell."

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _So again, the story won't leave me alone. So here's another chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy the rising action. Please let me know. Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed, anyone that I can't PM...Marie and Sara…thank you very much._

**Please Review: Please take a moment…thank you.**


	4. Forced Cooperation

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 4**

_Forced Cooperation_

Castiel stared at the demon-hybrid as he rolled across the dirty kitchen floor, his face a mask of screwed up pain. The angel's blue eyes shifted up to where Uriel and Zachariah stood, their combined gazes focused solely on Sam's unconscious form. He clenched his teeth as the two angels teleported out of the area and he felt like the dog left to heel the dirty laundry.

Dean groaned and rolled onto his stomach. "They're…gonna kill….my brother…you dick." The blood was dripping off his lips onto the floor as he clenched his eyelids shut, the misery clearly evident on his face. He managed to look up at the angel, his gaze showing the angel the black-green that Castiel had seen in the cemetery. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the hybrid try and haul his agonized body to his knees. What could possibly be compelling the demon to harm himself…every time he moved? Castiel knew that the poison that was currently raging through his system had to be debilitatingly painful.

"They will not kill Sam." Castiel said.

"No…they'll just…" Dean groaned and blinked hard as he started to cough, his lungs burning with white-hot fire. "They'll just turn…him into…" He continued to push until he'd managed to get to his feet, his body listing against the stove as he did.

"A demon?" Castiel hazarded. This _thing_ really didn't understand anything. He hadn't thought that humans...or in this case _hybrids_...could be so blind. It had no idea how the rules of heaven really worked…it didn't appear to understand how hell worked either.

Dean glared at him, his cheek jumping as he clenched his teeth together. Whether it was from pain or anger, Castiel didn't know. The hybrid's body shook with the intensity of its reaction to the poison coursing through his veins. But the vengeful look etched onto its visage might have worried a lesser angel…luckily, Castiel was not intimated by monsters.

"No. Sam is the boy with the demon blood. He will not _become_ a demon. He will become something more." Castiel raised an eyebrow. "Not unlike yourself." He shrugged his shoulders and walked around staring at the anomaly. "You are both abominations. God has no place in his kingdom things you…or him." His voice dropped as it picked up an edge, something about these Winchesters was putting him off his game. He just wasn't sure what it was.

"You always follow those…douchebags orders…or can you think for…yourself?" Dean growled as his knees buckled. Whatever that blade had done to him, it really sucked ass. He regretted that he hadn't stabbed that dick-angel the moment he'd first seen him in the cemetery with Sam.

"A soldier that does not follow orders is in chaos." Castiel answered. "You will not last much longer. The blade-poison is accumulating at the base of your brain stem, it will stop all electrical activity very soon." He turned and stared directly at Dean. "And then…you will go straight back to hell."

Dean spit more blood onto the off-white floor and then barked a wet sounding laugh. "You think…I'm scared of hell?" He shook his head to clear his vision. "Ya kinda get used to the heat." He snarked.

"I know what you are afraid of, Dean Winchester." His head tilted. "And it is not hell, nor Alistair and his blades. The only thing that scares you is losing your brother."

"Don't even…talk about…my brother." Dean's voice was ice cold as he stuttered around the pain. "You don't know…anything about me…or him."

"I know exactly everything about you and your brother." He walked around Dean and inhaled the cool air. "I have been watching you two since before you were born. Too bad neither of you lived up to your potential. You both had such great 'potential'."

"Fuck you!" Dean seethed. "You peeping little bastard."

Castiel smiled. "Why are you fighting so hard? Let yourself go…let your brother go."

"I…can't." The admission was taking a toll on Dean. It was like watching two different paths...one had him following his brother to the ends of the earth. While the other had him abandoning Sam and going on a killing spree.

The angel nodded. "I know. That is why I am here."

Dean's dark eyes lifted to meet the angels in surprise. "What?" He wasn't sure if it was the pain or the surprise that made him ask.

Castiel stepped forward and grabbed Dean's wrists, pinning them to the floor with one hand. With the other hand he removed the handcuffs from one of those wrists and Dean felt his power flood back into his body. The pain that came with the return of his power was exponentially worse than what he'd felt before. "Arg!" He cried as his hands clutched at his chest. The fire burning white-hot from somewhere deep inside his black soul.

The angel reached down and laid his hand on Dean's back. The hybrid arched away from the contact, but the pain started to recede in his head and his vision slowly cleared. His breathing evened out and he sagged to the floor as relief flooded through his system. "Why…?" He asked.

Castiel moved away as the demon regained control of his body. With the cuffs off one wrist he was at least able to heal some of the damage the poison had caused. "Let us just say that our interests in this matter are the same, Dean."

"Thought you said I was an abomination?" Dean ground out as he hauled himself to his feet again.

"I did. And you are." Castiel answered coldly. "But you also represent the best chance at stopping my brothers from destroying the world." He stared into the black-green gaze of the hybrid demon and stepped forward. "The cuffs remain on your one wrist for the time being. If you try and remove it, there are safeguards in place. The poison that I have removed from your system will be reintroduced."

Dean growled at that. "Get these off me." He raised his left arm as the two cuffs clinked together, settling near his wrist. "I can't save my brother this way…these silver manacles...they handicap what I am."

"I know. That is why they stay on. I do not trust you anymore than you trust me, demon. Working with you is a necessary evil. I will not let you loose on the world…you are too dangerous." Castiel moved away, pulling another angel blade out and tapping it against his leg menacingly.

Dean's gaze dropped to the blade and then flickered back up to the intense blue of the of angels eyes. "Not a great way to build trust here, pal. We can always try a trust-fall exercise…I hear they work wonders at corporate retreats." He groaned in pain and then looked back the angel, the anger barely contained beneath the surface. "How the hell do I find my brother?" His voice shifted to strained and low as he spoke of Sam.

"We need to go to an old friend of yours…an old hunter friend." The angel reached out and pulled Dean forward. As much as the hybrid wanted to stab the bastard in the heart for it, he wasn't able to move under his own power yet…his system was still too weak.

Dean shook his head and snorted. "Bobby…." How was it that everything in heaven and hell knew about all of them? Knew about the demon deal and the blood coursing through Sam's veins as a result of Azazel…everything.

XXXX

Sam clawed his way back toward consciousness. The intense thrum of pain in his neck, letting him know that he'd been choked out. He would recognize that sick groggy feeling anywhere…he hated it with a passion. He and Dean used to do it to each other as children, part of their training. Try and catch the other one off guard and then submit him into unconsciousness. Dean generally won those games of surprise tactics and Sam hadn't missed the massive headache that came with losing a game.

It took him a moment to realize that he was suspended. His hands tied above his head and his toes barely touching the ground. His head rolled forward onto his chest as he assessed the rest of his body. He didn't seem to be hurt anywhere but on his neck and for that he was grateful. He glanced around, a small room, very little light, and he was alone. Which meant that they hadn't taken Dean when they'd taken him. His thoughts turned to the hybrid and he swallowed the confusion that was tearing his head apart.

Dean had gone down _hard_ after the angel had cut him. The slice on his cheek wasn't hardly worth mentioning, but it had completely incapacitated Dean…along with those damn cuffs.

The last image that Sam had was his brothers worried eyes..._black-green demon eyes_. That wasn't making sense, demons weren't supposed to be able to _care._ But whatever Dean was…it wasn't any kind of _normal_.

"You're awake." A voice said from his left.

Sam's head swiveled in that direction and he inhaled when the angel called Uriel walked out of the darkness. He was wearing a dark blue suit and a frown.

"Yeah…tends to happen." Sam quipped.

"Ah…funny guy." Uriel walked around Sam, his eyes raking over the young human. "You're going to help us, Sam." He said with confidence.

Sam sneered. "Like hell." He twisted as his calf cramped and pain shot up his leg. He grimaced and clenched his eyelids closed as he waited for it pass.

Uriel stepped forward and grabbed Sam's chin tilting it toward him, the angel's fingers pressing in hard enough to bruise. Pain shot through his jaw as the angel squeezed harder and Sam groaned when the pressure felt like it was about to crack the bone. Sam felt his mouth being forced open as the man reached into his pocket and removed a vile. The human's eyes widened when he realized that it looked an awful lot like blood.

"What the hell is that?" He managed through his immobilized jaw.

"Blood." The angel smiled and tilted Sam's head back. "Demon blood to be more exact."

Sam's eye widened in surprise and the panic started to build as he struggled harder. "What? Get that away from me."

"I'm afraid not, Sam. It's a necessary evil." The angel smiled and forced the liquid between Sam's lips. He struggled, but he was no match for the inhuman strength of the divine being. "This is just the start." He slapped his hand over Sam's mouth and nose to force the young man to swallow. He waited until the human's eyes started to roll back in his head and his body sagged with its need for fresh air. But he eventually did as the angel wanted...he swallowed.

Sam gasped as the angel removed his hand and stepped back, his dark eyes approving. "Good boy. I'll be back later with another dose. Until then…just hang around." He smiled, but the action didn't reach his cold and calculating eyes.

The metallic taste of the blood was making Sam nauseated. But there was something else happening too, a slight buzz that was pulling his focus from his current condition. It was like something was tearing at the edges of his conscious mind…like it was trying to pull it open and let _something_ out. He didn't understand what the hell was happening. But the fact that that bastard had given him demon blood? Sam had never realized just how tainted he was. He pooled the saliva in his mouth and spit what remained of the blood onto the floor.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _So the tension is rising as the plots start to unfold. Don't worry the Winchester will be reunited fairly quickly and Castiel has an important part to play as the story progresses. Thanks to everyone that reviewed and read the latest chapter. To those I cannot PM, thank you for taking the time._

**Please Review: If I keep getting this type of response, then I'll continue to post more than once a week.**


	5. Singer Salvage and the White Room

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 5**

_Singer Salvage and the White Room_

The old salvage yard looked the same as it had the last time he'd seen it. Back when he'd been simply…_Dean Winchester_. Before Lilith and that night in Indiana…with the hellhound and Sam's screams of helplessness as he'd watched his little brother struggle against the demon-hold. He furrowed his eyebrows as the memories dredged up pieces of emotions that he'd thought he'd lost in the pit.

The chain link fence was wrapped in sigils, characters that he wouldn't have recognized before going to hell. One of Alistair's favorite games had been to carve sigils into Dean's flesh and make him guess which ones they were. The game never ended until he'd managed to guess correctly. Sometimes Dean figured it out quickly and sometimes…he had almost no flesh left by the time he finally managed to guess correctly. He pulled the Impala up next to the gate and tilted his head to the side. A large demon's trap was welded right into the fucking iron gate. _Damn-it Bobby._ He cursed as he got out of the car and slammed the driver's door, part of him cringed at the ring of metal as the car protested, in frustration. The angel was watching him from the passenger seat, a look of indifference on his face.

_Damn feather brained idiot hasn't said a freaking word in two thousand miles._ Dean's multi-colored black eyes narrowed as he slammed his fist into the tires leaning against the edge of the gate. "Listen feathers…I need you to either break this trap or go get Bobby, so he can break it." He tried to keep the hard edge from his voice, but judging by the irritated look on the angel's face, he'd failed.

Castiel raised an eyebrow before opening the door and climbing out. "If he has set up the traps to keep your kind out…I will not break them." He stood there in his tan trench coat with a quizzical look on his face as he watched the hybrid's face turn several shades of red.

"Get. In. There. And. Bring. Bobby. Out." Dean ground out through clenched teeth.

The angel's head titled again and he disappeared. Dean ran his fingers through his hair in agitation as he waited. He hadn't been very patient as a human…and as a demon? He positively sucked at waiting. His eyes caught the glint of the handcuffs as the sun rose over the horizon. Dean shook them and them grimaced as pain flared in his wrist. The skin was basically one big red blistering scab. He was a little fascinated by the different shades of red. New blood versus old blood…

A fluttering of wings had him glancing up. The angel was back and standing next to him was one very pissed off and confused Bobby Singer. The old man look healthy enough, apparently losing the Winchester boys had not adversely affected him. At least not that Dean could see. He stepped forward and Bobby pulled violently away from the angel. His eyes blowing wide with shock and rage as he stared at Dean. The old man's body shook his anger as he stared at something that had either stolen Dean's body or was impersonating the young man.

"What the hell are you?!" He seethed. Bobby looked like he was ready to bolt right back through the gate and into the house, where Dean knew he wouldn't be getting in without the old man's help. One thing Bobby wasn't, was stupid. Dean knew that he had traps and sigils spread throughout the entire yard and the old house.

"Sam's in trouble." Dean said evenly. No emotion in his voice as he stared at the other hunter. He was careful to keep his eyes the color of normal human green.

"I'm sure he is…I asked you a question. What the hell are you?" Bobby's blue eyes were shifting between Dean and the angel. He knew that the man in the trench coat couldn't be a demon, because he couldn't have gotten past the gate. Plus Bobby had managed to blast him full of lead buckshot before the guy had disarmed him. The fact that he was staring at the physical body of one of the boys he'd considered 'his', and _he_ hadn't been able to come in, was not lost on seasoned hunter. "You cannot be here…whatever you are...Dean's dead."

"I. Am. Dean. Bobby, I used to jump on your bed as a kid. Whenever me and Sam were left here by the old man, that is." He shrugged his shoulders and walked around the stunned hunter. Dean licked his lips and allowed his eyes to shift to black-green before stopping in front of the old man again and shrugging his shoulders. "And kid I was before the pit? I…haven't been that _kid_ for over a century." He chuckled as Bobby stared at him and shock flooded his expression as he backed away from Dean.

"Oh god…" Bobby said as he thinned his lips and looked over at Castiel. "A demon? Really?" He'd imagined…hell he'd had nightmares about what had happened to Dean after the deal came due. But he'd never imagined that the boy would come back as a demon. Hell, if he was really honest with himself, he'd never really thought about what happened to a soul when it went to hell. He couldn't. The possibilities were too horrific and the guilt for losing Dean was still so strong. He'd been the one to walk away from the fractured older brother after Sam's death in Cold Oak. So the fact that Dean had gone to a cross-roads demon was as much his fault as Dean's. If he'd been there, he might have been able to talk some sense into the idgit. "The hell do you want with me?"

Dean rolled his eyes and blew out a long-suffering breath….like it was almost painful to have to explain this to the man staring at him in horror. "I already told you. Sam is in trouble." Bobby's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"So?" He knew that demon's didn't feel emotions. So there was no way that this _thing_ was worried about his little brother's well being.

Dean's eyebrows shot up and he snorted. "So?" He shook his head and let his black eyes drift to the angel before pulling them back to Bobby. "So…he's my brother." He pointed in Castiel's direction with his thumb before continuing. "And these douchebags want to use him to start the damn apocalypse." His voice shifted from irritated to icy cold. "But they don't just want to destroy the world…no…they want to turn Sam into the walking embodiment of the devil." He cast rage filled eyes at Castiel. "They want him to be Lucifer's meat suit. Steal Sam's body, like some sort of rotten god-damned body snatching movie."

Castiel had finally had enough. "I have already told you why I am here. I will not explain myself to _something _like you."

Dean nodded and his face twitched with barely controlled hate as he glared at the angelic being. He wasn't aware that his eyes had shifted again, the green brighter against the black.

Bobby watched the exchange. "What are you?" He asked the man in the trench coat. The one that had shown up inside his house and placed a hand on his shoulder before hauling him to the edge of his property without his consent.

"Oh him?" Dean said, his arm rising in an irritated thrust. "Just your run of the mill, angel of the lord."

Castiel's eyebrow rose at the condemnation he heard in the hybrid's voice. His eyes flashed to Bobby's when the old man laughed out loud. "There's no such thing."

"See, that's what I said." Dean shot back.

The angel stepped back and the sky darkened as he demonstrated that there were angels in this universe. The thunder clapped and Bobby ducked without thinking about it. The wind whipped at his baseball cap, causing him to reach up and pull it further down onto his head. After a few moments the weather died along with Bobby's denial.

"Okay…he's an angel and you're a demon…so why are you working together? And what the hell do you want from me." He leaned against the sturdy post the secured the large iron gates of his property.

Dean stopped smiling immediately and stepped forward, his strange eyes aglow with anticipation. "Oh, I'm something else entirely." His eyelids dropped closed and he lifted the cloak of invisibility from his wings, the effect was the same as Castiel…but without the weather channel preview. The grey wings spread wide from his shoulders and extended about 10 feet in each direction. The black in his eyes receded and the green became almost difficult to look at. He had limited access to his powers, but he could still control the invisibility spell. And judging by the way Bobby's mouth fell open and he leaned heavily against the gate, it was still spectacular.

Castiel shook his head and stepped close to Bobby. "We do not wish to harm you. But I need him to find his brother. It is the only way to stop my brothers from doing something awful."

"What…wha…" Bobby stuttered as his gaze shifted rapidly between the two men.

"I'm a hybrid." Dean said simply. Like it was everyday that hunters met angel-demon hybrids in their front yards asking them to save the damn world. Dean stepped forward and the green faded somewhat, but as he stared at Bobby memories of his childhood raced to the surface of his mind. He clenched his teeth as the two parts of his soul once again warred with one another.

Bobby's eyes flickered up to Castiel. "What's wrong with him?"

"The human soul was not meant to be split by the light and the dark. Both halves are fighting for control of Dean. They will find a balance." He hoped. But he wasn't going to tell these humans that he had no clue what would happen as this progressed. Could Dean's soul survive the metamorphosis? He didn't know.

Castiel had been forced to find these Winchesters. He'd overheard his brothers talking and the conversation had taken a turn for the bloody. He wanted peace just as badly as they did, but he couldn't agree with sacrificing half the planet to get heaven-on-earth. The price was simply too high. God had placed a great worth on the human soul and Castiel was nothing if not loyal…he would not disobey God. But the discovery of his brother's betrayal had given him a purpose. He would see that God's greatest creations were not destroyed through ignorance and personal agendas.

XXXX

Sam sagged against the wall as his legs cramped again. He groaned and the pain shot up his legs, making him want to vomit. The asshole angel had been back twice more and had forced him to swallow the metallic tasting blood. They didn't offer him any food or water…just blood. Each time he felt a little less like himself for hours following the blood entering his system. The thing that was clawing at the inside of his head was getting faster and stronger as it targeted a specific place. He couldn't feel his arms anymore and the pain in his jaw from being forced open was anything but pleasant.

He wondered where Dean was…he seemed to understand the choices his brother had made the longer he was forced to hang around and think about it. He had to admit that he would have done anything to bring Dean back after the hellhounds…he swallowed at the image. Hell, he'd tried to make a deal with the crossroads demons, but none of them would deal. Sam wondered if he would have been strong enough to fight his way out of hell? He hoped so.

His eyes shifted to the dark corner where the angel always emerged. There was nothing there. No door, no window…nothing. The part of him that had always looked up to his brother wondered if he would come looking for him now? Was Dean really gone? Had hell really burned away the part of his big brother that Sam had looked up to his entire life?

XXXX

Their trip to the house was quick and uneventful as Bobby steered them around the numerous traps that were spread throughout the yard. He stomped up the creaky wooden stairs and stopped just before entering the house. "Before I let you in this house, you either take a shot of holy water, or…" His gaze dropped to the handcuffs and the obvious effect they were having on Dean. "Or put those on both hands. I know they block your powers. You ain't coming in my home otherwise."

Only the fact that this was his bet shot at finding Sam allowed him to agree. His demonic nature was furious. A dark glare was his only answer from Dean before Castiel stepped forward and held out his hand. Dean turned a deadly look in his direction before raising his arms and allowing the angel to cuff his other hand. He hissed as the pain instantly rocketed through his head and the power flow once again slammed into a wall…and built. It was like having a pressure tank inside his head that was just waiting to explode. The silver burned into the newly healed skin of his right wrist and he bit his cheek to stop the agony from showing on his face.

Dean sat across the table from Bobby. The sharp blue eyes of the other hunter staring at him without blinking. "Ever had a staring contest with a fish, Bobby? Fish don't have eyelids…you can't win. So if this is a contest…you lose. Cuz I don't have to breathe, and I don't have to blink."

"I was just wondering what your daddy would'a said about…" He gestured at what Dean had become and snorted with derision. "…this."

The hybrid rolled his shoulders and then reached up and cracked his neck before looking back at man that used be like a second father to him. "He would have said 'protect Sammy'." He stood up and walked to the counter, grabbing a glass and the bottle of whiskey before pouring himself a hefty dose of the amber liquid. He was slightly please to note that the damn angel had at least cuffed his hands in front of him this time. It was so much more pleasant on his shoulders.

Bobby wanted to argue. That how the hell did this _thing_ know what John would have wanted…but he couldn't. Because the demon was absolutely right. That man would have told Dean to protect Sam with his dying breath. So why was it so surprising to him that that one _order_ had remained after the pit carved out everything else that made Dean…Dean?

"So who has Sam?" He finally asked.

"My brothers have taken him to a holding room." Castiel said without looking at either of them. He was staring out into the yard; the rainbow of light playing off a hundred windshields had caught his attention.

Dean snorted. "Could you be more cryptic?" He set the glass down hard enough that Bobby was surprised it hadn't shattered. "How about we play twenty questions…Is the room on earth? Is the room in North America? Can I drive to the room in a day? Any of this ringing a bell?" He thought about going on, but frankly he so irritated that it was hard to control his words.

The angel turned a stoic look in his direction before turning toward Bobby's study and walking to the desk. He looked at the globe on the corner and picked it up before walking straight back to Dean. He set it on the table and spun it. He stopped the motion with one finger against a brightly colored state. _California_. "The angel-batcave is in Pasadena? Seriously?!" The sarcasm and disgust were easily dripping from his lips as he shook his head and swigged back more alcohol.

"I realize that it is not ideal. But let me assure you that it is very well protected and if they have implemented their plan…Sam only has a little over a day before he is past my ability to help." Castiel turned and stared at Dean. The hybrid had walked away from the whiskey bottle and was staring at the small globe.

"Guess I'm going to Cali." He didn't want anyone else involved. But the fact was that the bastards had taken Sam and he could use all the help he could get. Especially since it didn't appear as though this _angel_ was going to give him full control anytime in the near future. "Bobby, I don't trust you right now and know you damn sure don't trust me." His eyebrows cut down as he tried to pull his words together. "But Sammy needs help." That was as close as Dean was liable to get to an invitation.

Bobby watched as the emotion flooded Dean's face and the black in his eyes once again receded as the green pushed forward. There was something different about demon-Dean. He'd never heard of anything anywhere near the power levels that the hybrid controlled. But looking at the damage that the silver was doing to his wrists…Bobby knew that he wasn't all-powerful. Even something like Dean could be hurt…maybe even killed.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed. I appreciated the feedback and that is keeping me excited about this story. Thank you to anyone that I cannot PM...Sarah…and all guests._

**Please Review: It's the best part about writing. Knowing that you guys are waiting for the next chapter.**


	6. Gardens and White Rooms

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 6**

_Gardens and White Rooms_

Bobby stared at the demon, standing in his kitchen, with a blank face. He was trying not to give away his feelings on what it had just asked him to do. The creature that had taken Dean's body had allowed him to put the handcuffs on both wrists, thus rendering it powerless. That had to count for something, but at this point he wasn't ready to just trust it. The other one, the one that claimed to be an angel of the lord? Nothing he'd done had affected that one. The silver made no difference, the salt hadn't stopped it…hell even a bunch of lead buckshot to its chest hadn't done more than irritate the being. It wasn't that Bobby didn't think that there _could_ be angels…it was just that, well, if there are angels out there watching everyone. Where the hell have they been for the last several years? Drinking tea? Demon's trying to take over the earth, destroying families and killing people right and left, it seemed to Bobby that the damn _angels_ had been pretty lax about doing their job.

Dean held up his hands and raised his eyebrows in question. "These coming off?" The pain was a constant point of irritation with him. Both wrists were now bloody; he looked at them and wondered just how long it was going to take him to heal, given the fact that he was essentially _allergic _to the metal…or maybe it was the sigils that were etched into the shiny cuffs. He groaned when Castiel shook his head 'no' and his eyes cut over to Bobby. "Seriously?" The old man shrugged and stood up as he walked to the other room. "Come on, I haven't tried to kill you, right? Give a guy some credit here." He grumbled.

Bobby completely ignored the remarks. "So other than Sam needing help, why are you here? I don't exactly work with well with your kind." He came back into the room carrying a large leather bound book. Bobby sank down into the chair and flipped open the musty pages, leafing through the old text.

Dean recognized the key of Solomon on the book, which meant that he couldn't even open the damn things. His black eyes shifted to Castiel for a moment before Dean answered simply. "I need a spell."

"What kind of spell?" The old man's eyes came up and he stared at Dean.

"The kind that keeps my soul inside this body…no matter what." Dean said.

"You want me to help you lock-ward your soul into Dean's body? Why would I do that? Sending you bastards back to hell…that's all I've cared about for a very long time." His voice was gruff, but steady as he glared at the demon.

Dean's black-green eyes flickered over to Castiel and then back to Bobby, they were incredulous. "Can't have someone trying to smoke me outta my own body. And I also need a spell that can counteract demon blood." This got the angels attention, his blue eyes flashed in Dean's direction and he took a step forward.

"What the hell? What does demon blood do?" Bobby had never heard that it had any effect on people at all.

Dean inhaled and shifted his shoulders to alleviate the discomfort of the cuffs. "To a normal human? Nothing." He looked directly at Castiel before continuing. "To Sam….a lot."

Bobby's mouth dropped open and he stared at the creature that he'd thought of as a son. The incredulous expression plastered on his face would have been comical if Dean hadn't been so serious about what he needed. He knew that to protect both Sam and himself, they needed to counteract what the damn angels were currently doing to his brother. It was the irrational anger that surged through his body that brought him back to the present. He dropped his eyelids momentarily while he got his violent emotions under control. The thought of those bastards doing to Sam what they'd done to him in hell…was making his stomach turn in rage.

"_To_ Sam? What the hell are you talking about? Why would you need that type of spell?" The old hunter finally asked, his light blue gaze tracking between the angel and Dean. He was throwing questions out right and left and frankly it had burned through Dean's last nerve at this point.

"Azazel…demon blood…Sam as a baby…mom burning on the ceiling…ring any bells? Do I really need to go on? Come on, Bobby. You're smart enough to piece this crap together." He watched as the old man bristled under the comment. Bobby was speechless, that the kid could talk about his mom and his brother so callously…he supposed that it must be the demon in him.

Dean rolled his eyes and blew out a frustrated breath. "Because I need my soul _locked_ into this body. Just like I needed my _grace_ locked into this body. It has to be _my _choice to leave." He pointedly ignored the look that the angel shot in his direction. _Come on, if you're all knowing, you should know what those Enochian sigils were for, feathers._ He thought.

"Why _that _specific body? Wait…_your_ _what_?" Bobby asked.

"Bobby, I don't have time to explain the ins and outs of what I am to you, ask me again later. I promise I will never lie to you…but Sam needs to be rescued before those bastards twist his soul into something…like me. Or worse, get him hooked on the blood." He glared at the old man. His lips twitching in anger, it was one thing to mess with him, it was something else altogether to mess with Sammy.

"Dean you cannot do this. If you alter the 'grace' it could destroy you. No one has ever tried to cross those two powers. We do not know what will happen." Castiel said as he stood near the door, his fingers twitching at his side. He hadn't realized that Dean had been smart enough know that the grace could be pulled out of him...a lot like an exorcism...thenoriginal plan had been to trick the eldest Winchester and then yank the grace away from his black soul and leave him to hell's fury. Zachariah, in the other hand, had other plans for Michael's betrayer, plans that Castiel wasn't privy to. There was a good chance that Michael had a few things in store for the young demon as well…and his physical body.

Dean's black eyes rose and met his. "As long as I can hold it together long enough to get Sam out…whatever happens…I'll deal." His shoulders never sagged under the weight of his commitment, not like they would have two years ago.

Bobby looked down at his hands. That sounded so much like Dean that it made his chest ache, the rising emotions nearly choking him. He licked his lips and pulled off his cap and beat it against his thigh in frustration. He really didn't want to help a spawn of hell, but it was looking more and more like this _was _Dean. The more he listened he could hear the remnants of the boy he'd helped John raise. And that person would never hurt Sam. But Dean was more than a person now…now he was something that they hunted and killed. If Bobby didn't him…he would want to hunt him.

"For Sam." He said gruffly.

Dean nodded. "For Sam."

"So before I can find a spell, I need to know exactly what you are." His gaze cut over to the man in the trench coat and then back. "You both keep talking about this 'grace' thing." He tilted his head and stood up to grab a bottle of whiskey from the counter. Sitting back at the small kitchen table he poured himself a generous glass. "So what is it?"

Castiel started to speak, but Dean glared at him and interrupted. "It's what powers up an angel." The angelic beings eyebrows rose and he looked seriously irritated at the rather simple explanation of what he was. "Like a Power Ranger." Dean finished with a cocky grin and a shoulder shrug.

"I am not a Power Ranger." Castiel said calmly, his irritation evident on his generally stoic face.

Bobby shook his head and tried not to smile at the comment. _Yeah, definitely some version of Dean Winchester_. He thought with amusement. "Okay, so you're not a toy. But how does what you possess change what…" He glanced at Dean before continuing. "What he is?"

"The grace is keeping the demonic side of his nature under control. If it was to be removed, he would become what hell made him." The icy blue gaze shifted to Dean as he tilted his head to the side. "A killer and a master torturer. No regard for human life beyond what he believes they can do for him."

Bobby's eyes widened at that. He looked over at Dean and raised an eyebrow in question. Dean simply shrugged. He had no answer to the old man's question. He didn't have a clue what he would be without the angelic side of his soul. Zachariah had given it to him before he had become a demon, so he'd always had it in the back of his mind. It hadn't made the torture any easier to deal with, but it had given him _hope_ that he would make it out of hell and get back to Sam. "Okay…" He inhaled and stood up, walking into the other room again. Dean furrowed his eyebrows and followed the old hunter.

He was just about to tap Bobby on the shoulder when he was rendered immobile. He groaned and looked up. On the ceiling was a key of Solomon. He'd completely forgotten about the key painted there. He should have remembered, he'd used it to capture Meg when they'd been searching for their father. "Uh…Bobby…"

"Forget it was there?" Bobby asked in amusement.

"No…I was just distracted by all the dust." Dean quipped as he folded his arms across his chest and waited for the old man to come let him out.

"Right. Okay, so a spell to lock your soul into a body... There's a brand that we can use to seal it to _your_ body and then with this…" He flipped the pages to another spell. "Spoken spell, will keep you inside your body even if someone tries to exorcise you."

"Okay…what about reversing the damage to Sam?" He was more worried about that keeping himself safe.

"That's going to take more research. I don't have anything off the top of my head. Give me some time, get your brother out of their hands and we'll find a way to help him." Bobby would move heaven and earth to keep that promise.

"Dean, I need to tell you something." Castiel stepped forward. His gaze far off as he listened to something that only he could hear.

XXXX

Sam sagged against the ropes as he tried to ignore the pleasant hum of power inside his head. He'd been given the blood vile every hour on the hour since they'd taken him. The angels liked to off set the blood with stories of his brother in hell. The things that Dean had done to become what he was. And they were horrific. Sam had tried to understand what could have turned Dean into a torturer…and the angels illuminated him. But all that did was make him wonder how Dean was fighting the urges of a demon. He hadn't looked crazy or vengeful when Sam had been with him.

"He tried to fight it…did you know that? But he's weak and it didn't take long before Dean gave in." Uriel said as he walked around Sam. The blood had dripped down Sam's chin and he hadn't even noticed the liquid as he watched the archangel circle. "A soul is a fickle thing. One simply has to have the right key…" He turned and grinned at the young man hanging from the rafters. "And do you know what the key was to breaking your brother?" He watched as Sam shook his head, his thoughts drifting to the warm feeling that the demon blood was creating in his chest. "It was you, Sam. You were the key to destroying your brother's will."

That brought him crashing back to the present and Sam shook his head in denial. _That couldn't be true_. Dean had already given up everything to try and save him…he _couldn't _be the reason that his brother had given up fighting for his soul. _Could he?_ "You're lying." He said through clenched teeth.

Uriel shook his head. "No, I'm not…and I believe you know that."

The angelic creature left and Sam thought that nothing could have been worse than listening to the angel. But he was wrong; being left alone with his rampaging thoughts was way worse than being distracted by the dick angel. Flashes of cities burning and the skulls of humans being crushed beneath the feet of the ones still living burned through his mind like wild fire. People that weren't _people _stalked the streets, killing everyone they came across that wasn't stalking like them. It was like a virus…all of the people infecting one another with merely a scratch.

XXXX

And there in the center of this chaos was…_him._ Sam was standing in a garden and he looked different. Nothing in him looked human. He turned and looked around the room, it was almost like was there in the garden, not hanging in an abandoned room. "I wondered when you'd show up." Dean's voice caught his attention.

"I've been waiting for you." _Not-Sam_ said.

"You know that's a cheesy line, right? Whatever…I'm here…" Dean looked around; his black eyes even and blank as he took in the brilliant colors of the roses inside the garden.

_Not-Sam_ tilted his head. "You know there is no going back?"

Dean nodded.

"Alright. Bring me the blade." He held out his hand and waited for the demon to drop the curiously etched blade into his opened palm.

Dean gritted his teeth. "And Sam will be safe?" He furrowed his eyebrows and then looked over at the man that used to be his brother.

"Yes. If you give up the grace and the vessel…I promise Sam will be safe…and I'll make it as painless as possible for you." He circled Dean. The malice that was etched into his blue-green gaze was so apparent that Dean would have had to be blind to miss it.

"No you won't." Dean said evenly.

_Not-Sam _smiled. "No I won't. But I won't let Sam watch…how about that?" The smirk was so out of place on Sam's face that Dean wasn't sure what this thing inside his brother was. It was the very essence of evil.

Dean swallowed, the two sides of his soul had found a balance over the last five years and he was similar to a human at this point. A human being with extraordinary powers…but a human being all the same. The angels were terrified of what he was and none more so than the one that currently possessed Sam. But he'd been unable to rescue his brother from that white room and Sam had been turned into…this. The only way to resolve it was to sacrifice what he was and have his brother given back control of his body.

Dean had failed; they'd planned on slamming the gates of hell on all of those cheeky bastards…and then locking the douchebag angels away in the cage. It was the one place that had been designed to hold the explosive power of angels. But things had gone awry and Dean had been trying to recover his brother for over five years. He'd had help along the way, Castiel and Bobby and many others…but he'd never gotten as close to Sam as he was right now. He'd discovered that for him to save his little brother…he would have to give up his life. Only the sacrifice of someone with equal power to an archangel could make the spell, which Bobby had died to find, work.

Sam wrapped his fingers around the cool hilt of the blade and turned toward the only hybrid in existence. His blood sang at the thought of driving into Dean's heart.

XXXX

Sam pulled back to himself in a gasp of surprise. He'd been able to feel everything the other version of him had. He had _wanted _to destroy his brother. The joy that he was going to take in driving the blade through his brother's heart was horrendous. The guilt that this unexplained feeling elicited was palpable. He groaned, the power pushing at his barriers as he clenched his eyelids closed in an attempt to control it. It was making his stomach turn with nausea and he found that he couldn't control the bile that raced up his throat. He'd had no food for the last three days…only blood. So it looked a bit like a horror scene as he retched the blood out of his system.

"Sammy?!" Dean's rough voice cut through his pain and he forced his gaze up.

"Dean?" He whispered. Sam watched as his brother rushed forward, flanked by the angel that had been in the cemetery that day.

"We do not have a lot of time, Dean." Castiel said as he stared at the walls like they were going to disappear at any moment.

Dean's face was a mask of rage as he reached up and carefully sliced through the rope. He caught his brother's lanky frame before the kid could collapse to the floor. "It's okay, Sammy…I got you." He was surprised by the power that the simple need to protect his brother was creating within him. He hadn't felt this level of emotion, other than rage, since before he went to hell. It had to have something to do with his angelic side…nothing else made sense.

"Isn't that sweet. A demon pretending to care…" Zachariah's voice flooded the room and Dean's gaze was swept in the direction of the table neat the wall. Standing there was the angel, he was surrounded by three other angels and they looked pissed. "Guess I get to hand you over earlier than expected, Dean." He grinned. "After I get a little pay back that is." He looked over at Castiel and frowned. "As for you, my brother. Michael wants to see you."

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed. About some questions some of you have had. I need Bobby in the story so that he could help with the spells, that's his main role in this story. Castiel and Dean have come to an understanding that will be explained in a flashback in the next chapter and there will be more action and brotherly moments as they struggle to get out of the room. As for Sam's dream/vision thing…that'll be explained as the story moves forward. So be patient. Thank you to anyone that I cannot PM…Marie._

**Please Review: The reviews have helped to shape the story and bring to light holes in the mythology.**


	7. Missing Pieces

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 7**

_Missing Pieces_

Dean clenched his teeth together at the appearance of the damn angel in a pin striped suit. He turned slowly and glared at the balding man being used as a meat suit. The room was suddenly feeling far too small for the five of them and he wanted out…now. He glanced around quickly and took in the lack of an exit; the door that they had entered through was simply gone. Castiel threw a look in his direction before moving so he was standing closer to Dean than the hybrid was comfortable with. "Personal space…." He whispered harshly.

Castiel turned and narrowed his eyes and then Dean felt something cool and metallic being pressed into his hand. It took a moment for his brain to catch up with what the angel was doing. He was giving Dean his freedom…the key. His black-green eyes flashed up to meet the intense blue of the dark haired man standing next to him. Their gazes connected for a moment and each one nodded subtly. Zachariah was so intent on his own plan that he failed to see Dean carefully unlatch the cuffs…but he definitely heard the clank as the cuffs hit the concrete.

He moved to intercept the attempted escape, but he was too slow. By the time he'd realized what was happening, Dean, Sam, and the traitor angel were gone. In their wake was nothing but a set of etched silver handcuffs. He bent over and picked them up, twirling them on his fingers as his gaze swept toward one wall and a door appeared.

"Son of a bitch!" He hissed into the empty room.

XXXX

Sam wasn't sure what was happening. He'd seen Dean and the other angel inside the white room, but he hadn't expected to be whisked away at the last minute. A part of him shouldn't be that surprised. Dean was always full 'hail Mary' plays. Apparently being dead and a demon hadn't changed his ability to weasel his way out of almost any situation. Sam wanted to say something, but the sudden painful clenching of his stomach had him changing his mind about opening his mouth. The metallic aftertaste of the blood was still rolling around inside his cheek. He blinked several times to clear his vision before he finally brought his brothers face into focus.

"Sam, you okay?" Dean asked as he grabbed a piece of cloth from somewhere near the bed Sam was lying on and mopped at the sweat on his forehead.

_Wait, when did we get to a motel?_ Sam wondered just before his gut spasmed again and had him rushing for the small bathroom. He barely managed to get the door open before he was falling to his knees and retching into the bowl of a snow-white toilet. Luckily the motel seemed to have a fairly strict cleanliness policy, since everything was pristine white….and didn't smell like urine.

Ten minutes later Sam's sides were burning as the muscles stretched and bunched along his side, his stomach was still clenching around nothing. He finally sank back to his ass and brought shaky hands up to scrub down his face. His whole body felt like it was on fire and freezing at the same time. His vision was pulsing in and out of focus and his head was thudding like a freight train smashing into a brick wall…over and over again. He took a moment and just focused on filling and emptying his lungs, hoping that it would help with the nausea. It didn't.

He could hear voices in the near distance. Sam cast his eyes at the door that was leaned shut and groaned again as pain rocketed through his head.

"Is he going to be okay?" That was definitely the worried voice of his brother. He could hear the rasp of Dean's voice through the door as he strained to stay focused.

"I do not know Dean. He is a unique case. Just like you, and I cannot say how much blood was given to him, or what the after-effects will be. But rest assured there will be effects." The angel's voice was also somewhat recognizable. Although it surprised Sam that his brother would have brought the other angel with them in the first place. Given Dean's current status as a 'demon', Sam thought that he would just leave the tracker angel to his fate. But something about whatever Dean had become wasn't playing from any rulebook that he'd ever heard of…at least where demons were concerned anyways.

"Just what the hell does that mean?" Dean growled. His voice picking up a deadly edge that told Sam that his brother was only moments away from losing his temper. That had never been a good thing when he'd been human…but now? It wouldn't bode well for anyone in his path.

"It means that Sam has been exposed to a catalyst. His powers have been awakened and fed. They will demand more fuel and attention. I believe that you had a plan for that eventuality, did you not?" His voice was even, like he was reciting the phonebook. Sam decided that the guy irritated him, right then and there.

He heard them shift and then a grunt of agreement. "I wasn't planning on them getting to him first and overdosing his system like some banger at his first party. He's gonna have to be detoxed before we can do this right, without the addiction."

_Addiction? What the hell, Dean?_ He wondered. Sam had just enough warning to throw his head back over the bowl before he was again assaulted with painful dry heaves. He barely heard the door push open, or the gentle hand that settled on his shoulder. The touch might have been unexpected, but the owner was unmistakable. Sam would know Dean's touch from anyone else's. But the mere fact that his demon-brother was showing any level of concern about his well-being was a bit disconcerting. Sam wanted to believe that Dean was stronger than what had been done to him in Hell…but the parts of his brain that knew better were fighting with his heart. And _that_ was the part that desperately wanted to believe in Dean…his heart.

"Feeling any better?" He asked as he handed Sam a towel to wipe his mouth and a class of water.

Sam turned miserable eyes in his direction and shook his head. "Not really."

Dean rubbed his hands down his face and took the glass back after Sam had drunk some of the cool liquid. He was trying to decided how best to approach this rather enormous hiccup in the plan to take down Hell. He'd never been planning to get his brother addicted to either the rush of power that came from the demon blood, or the massive methamphetamine-like effects that this particular demon's blood would have on Sam. And now as he stared at the sweat pouring down Sam's face and the pinched look, Dean knew he would have to play hardball with his brother for a bit. Because this wasn't going to be any kind of fun for Sam…or him.

On the plus side. He _did _have full access to his powers now, so maybe he could do something for Sam. His eyes flickered to the doorway, where the angel stood watching the brothers. Dean reached out with his booted toe and pushed the door closed. He heard the angel huff and the soft footfalls as he walked away. Dean couldn't help the slight smile that pulled at the corner of his lips. The smile died when he looked back at Sam. He didn't need his weakness advertised to anyone. In fact, Dean knew that his little brother was going to be seriously embarrassed when he was feeling better. He would wonder how much of his current state of weakness that Dean had seen, let alone Castiel.

Sam pulled back and leaned against the wall, his head lolling to the side as his body started to give in to the exhaustion. He hadn't had anything to eat in the last three days and his body was starting to protest the lack of nourishment. Once he'd managed to get the blood out of his system, his body seemed to realize that there was nothing to fill up the hollow in his gut and it wasn't happy about that. But the actua idea of _eating _something made him want to throw up again. It was a nasty little cycle that Sam didn't much appreciate. He allowed his tired gaze to rest on his brother and he noticed that even though Dean was concerned about him and the other angels that were trailing them. He'd taken the time to switch his eyes to their human green. Something inside of Sam popped. Like a balloon that had been filled with denial.

"You don't need to do that anymore." He said in a raspy voice. Sam winced at the sound and swallowed.

Dean tilted his head to the side as he reached up and grabbed the water again, handing to Sam. "Do what? Take care you? Kinda comes with the title 'Awesome older brother'." He quipped.

Sam's eyebrows rose and he felt a small smile at Dean's rather typical response to anything that was even remotely close to sentiment. "No…your eyes." He took a sip of the water. "You should leave them."

Dean raised an eyebrow but his eyes immediately shifted to the black-green and his face relaxed somewhat. It was more than slightly uncomfortable for him to maintain the human version of his eyes. Like staring through water all the time.

Sam shifted slightly, but made no attempt to try and get up. So Dean stayed on the floor too. "What happened to you, Dean?" He asked quietly, staring up at his brother through the long fringes of hair.

Dean thinned his lips. He'd promised Sam that he wouldn't lie to him, but he didn't want to give his baby brother anything else to feel responsible for. "I found a way to climb outta Hell." He cracked his back and moved to set on the side of the bathtub. This wasn't the most comfortable place to have this conversation. "You wanna move back to the bed?"

Sam shook his head. He wasn't entirely sure that he was done with the spectacular intestinal pyrotechnics of his stomach yet. He looked over at Dean. "I wanna know what happened…because I _do _care." His eyes took on the wounded puppy look and Dean groaned inwardly. _That look had gotten Sammy every single toy in the cereal boxes when they'd been young._ "I tried to find a way to get you out Dean…I really did. I contacted everyone we knew, I even tried to make a deal of my own…"

Dean cut him off. "You did what?" His voice was suddenly angry and heavy all at the same time. The very thought that Sam was almost on the rack next to him was gut-wrenching. He'd have stayed in Hell forever to prevent that deal being made.

A soft intake of breath was Sam's only answer.

"Sammy…I did what I did and I'm not gonna apologize for it. Because it brought you back. Hell wasn't a picnic, but I'm back, stronger than ever. And every one of those sons a bitches is gonna pay." The green in his eyes was fading into the blackness as his anger rose to the surface. Sam had to look away at the barely contained rage that was evident on his brother's face.

Sam inhaled deeply and then instantly regretted it when his head exploded in pain and his side complained. He leaned forward catching his head between his hands and waited for the agony to subside. "So what…now?" He said through clenched teeth.

Dean reached down and gently pulled his chin up. Sam found himself staring into the inhuman black eyes of a demon. "Now?...they're all gonna pay. We taking down Hell…for good." The conviction in his voice caused a shiver to work its way through Sam.

"What about the angels?" He whispered. Sam's gaze flickered momentarily toward the door and then back to Dean. His brother sighed and he pushed his anger at what they'd done to Sam down a bit so he could concentrate.

"First I'm gonna deal with that flying douchebag that took you." He nearly smiled at the thought of what he was planning for Zachariah. "Then I'm gonna deal with that archangel…Michael." He cracked his knuckles and leaned forward. "I'm not going anywhere Sam. We are going to win this thing."

"What about the blood? I heard you say something about addiction?" It was difficult for Sam to even ask. He'd overheard their conversation and he was scared. Whatever that damn angel had started inside of him…it was apparently irreversible. He could already feel the effects of the blood, he could actually look at Dean and see something pushing at the edges of his brother's body. Like something was contained inside him. It seemed to fit fairly well, but it was still larger than the human form containing it.

"I'll help you through it. Do you trust me, Sam?" He asked.

Sam's gaze flickered up to meet the intensity of his brother's eyes. "Yeah Dean…I trust you."

XXXX

Castiel listened to the conversation on the other side of the door. He wasn't going to say anything to Dean, but the idea of taking on Michael was worrisome. He was the most powerful of all God's archangels…potentially next to Lucifer. And the fact that they were going to beat not just one of those beings…but both of them was making him nervous. He'd seen the dream-vision that Sam had had while hopped up on demon blood. And unlike Dean, Castiel knew what that meant.

Sam was the vessel for the return of the fallen angel and that meant that the demons and the angels would do _anything_ to get him. Not to mention that Michael was pissed that Dean had taken his body back and defiled it with his corrupted soul. It wasn't that the angel couldn't cleanse the body and use it. But getting permission from a demon wasn't likely, since they only worried about themselves.

He sank into the small chair at the old style kitchen table and wondered what came next. He knew that technically Dean was a demon and that meant that they were _natural _enemies. But there was also something that was different about Dean. The effects of the _grace_ were constantly changing what he was. He'd been meant to become the second greatest master torturer that Hell had ever seen…and he had. But with the grace swirling just beneath the surface as his soul changed…he'd retained parts of his humanity. It wasn't something that Castiel had ever seen nor even heard of before. Of course no angel had ever given part of his 'grace' to a human either. Part of Castiel wondered if that was why Zachariah was so hell bent on getting back the grace…it had come from Michael himself…and the archangel was pissed at being duped. He was holding Zachariah responsible and Zachariah was holding Castiel responsible.

If Dean ever learned that it was Castiel that had hauled up out of the pit, with Dean's help of course, then he might not be so eager to help the angel out. The memory wipe had been easy and necessary to keep the eldest Winchester on track with Castiel's plan. But Dean had the ability to restore his memories if he concentrated hard enough. Castiel just had to make sure that didn't happen.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _So here's the new chapter. There are some revelations and some foreshadowing. Thanks to everyone that read, reviewed, and favorite this story. A special thank you to anyone that I cannot PM…Marie…Sarah and guests._

**Please Review: I would like to know what you think of the progression.**


	8. Hidden Truths

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 8**

_Hidden Truths_

Sam glanced over at his brother's prone form and he couldn't help the hint of a smile that played at the corners of his lips. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed seeing Dean in the bed next to him.

Apparently being an all-powerful hybrid didn't mean that Dean never had to sleep. He'd finally passed out on the bed nearest the door an hour ago, his arm thrown up over his eyes in an attempt to block out the light from the center lamp. Sam was still awake and he found himself staring at the scarred flesh on his brother's wrists and he winced. He was painfully aware that the engraved silver handcuffs had caused the scars. He supposed that a part of him had thought that Dean could heal the wounds once the cuffs were off. Apparently, he couldn't. Sam looked over at the angel, questions about his brother swirling through his head.

Castiel was busy staring out the window of their motel room. At what, Sam had no idea. But he hadn't moved a muscle in over an hour and it was starting to kinda freak Sam out. It didn't help that the headache was still thrumming painfully inside his skull preventing him from falling asleep. The nausea had finally let up about an hour ago and he'd managed to make it back to his assigned bed…with a fair bit of help from his brother.

Dean had refused to leave his side as he'd struggled through the first five hours of his forced detox. Sam didn't know what was in store for him as they put more and more distance between his last 'fix' and the future. But if the last few hours were any indication, he wasn't too excited about it. He was constantly pushing down the blood-thirst that was a continuous presence in the back of his throat. He wondered if this is how Vampires must feel. That didn't do anything but make him feel worse, so he tried to think of something else. Sam swallowed the lump and forced his over active brain in another direction.

His gaze naturally tracked back to his brother and he furrowed his eyebrows. "Can I ask you something?" Sam's eyes flickered over to the angel's back. The trench-coated shoulders weren't even rising and falling…which meant that the angel wasn't currently worried about breathing. _Weird._ Sam thought.

Castiel turned and looked back at Sam. The youngest Winchester found his gaze dropping to the rather ugly pale green flowered bedspread covering his full sized mattress. "Yes." The angel said simply.

Sam found that his throat went dry as he tried to think of how to word his question. He knew that his brother's time in Hell had been awful. But he wondered what that meant for Dean's future. Could he ever be whole again? Could the angels fix, Dean? Could he go to heaven at any point? What if he was a really good _demon-angel…thing?_ Wouldn't that earn him a spot in heaven? He watched as the angel huffed and shook his head…almost like… "Were you reading my thoughts just now?" Sam asked in shock.

"You think very loudly, Sam Winchester." The angel said in a gravelly voice. He walked to the couch and sank onto it, cracking his back in a very human action that made Sam's eyebrows go up. The angel was a constant lesson in contradictions.

"So? What're the answers?" He dropped his eyelids closed as the hunger pressed against his control again and he clenched his teeth in denial. The angels voice had him forcing them open and watching the being with hungry eyes.

"I could take your brother to heaven. But he would not be happy there." The angel watched as Sam tried to understand that. Heaven was supposed to be perfection…how could Dean be _unhappy_ there?

"What's that even mean?" Sam ground out.

"Have you ever seen your brother's true form?" Castiel stood up and walked toward the sleeping hybrid. _He_ saw Dean's true form every day. Every time he looked at the hybrid, he saw what had been done to the boy's soul in Hell. It was not a pleasant sight.

"I thought it was the black smoke cloud. I've seen it pushing at the edges of his body…but no I've never seen Dean's personal storm cloud." Sam answered honestly.

The angel grunted and nodded at the obvious growing power within Sam. They needed to get this kid under control before something happened that they had not planned for. "That is the form demon's take while on Earth…it is not their _true_ form. Let me enlighten you." He stepped forward and reached down, calling on his full power as an angel he grabbed onto Dean's soul. It would not have been remotely possible if he hadn't been the one to pull Dean out of Hell. His hand fit around the imprint on Dean's shoulder perfectly, giving him something to grasp through the wards and spells. Sam watched, horrified, as his brother's cry of surprise echoed Sam's own fears and Dean felt the angel tear his soul free of his physical body.

Castiel shouldn't have been able to touch his soul, let alone pull it from his fully warded body…but he had. And he'd been able to extract Dean's soul without any trouble.

Suddenly there on the small bed was a twisted and mangled version of his brother. It was still somewhat recognizable as Dean…but only barely. Sam stared at the tortured version of his brother in rising horror. He saw the gnarled legs, the twisted and deformed arms. He saw everything that had been done to Dean. His brother's left hand was missing altogether. There were charred patches of his skull, the hair having been ripped out at some point, exposing the white of bone. There was nothing left of one ear but the tip. A handprint was scorched into his left shoulder…like some sort of fucking brand. Dean's right arm was pulled tightly against his body like a busted wing, the elbow turning completely in the wrong direction. His ribs protruding in ways that only happened after being broken and set wrong...intentionally, causing inescapable pain. Dean would never walk again in this condition. He'd be in constant agonizing pain.

Sam couldn't stop his eyes from filling with tears when he saw the physical evidence of his brother's time in Hell. The chains that Dean had so callously referenced when he was talking to Sam that first day…as a way of trying to explain what he'd gone through…the gaping holes were all there. In his wrists, in his ankles, through his shoulder, and finally whole chunks of skin were missing in his left side.

But it was his eyes that truly convinced Sam that his brother had never been truly lost. The black-green of his older brother's eyes were terrified. Dean was terrified that his brother was going to reject him. It was a look that Sam could only remember seeing one other time. That night in Indiana before the hellhounds had come to haul Dean's soul to Hell. But now as he turned his eyes toward Sam, beforethe mask that _was Dean_ fell into place and the emotions were wiped from his agonized face, Sam saw the truth.

"Your brother would be in constant pain, Sam. This is the form that he would take in heaven…because this is what his soul is now." Castiel looked truly sorry as he showed something to Sam that few humans ever saw…the true nature of a demon. "Without the grace inside your brother, he would look like other demons. They no longer resemble their human forms. Long ago, those human limitations were shed as they became more animal than man. Dean was unique. His soul was not changing. It didn't matter how long they tortured end him, his soul retained a shred of humanity. We believe that it was his connection to you that gave him something in himself worth saving. That is why Zachariah picked him…that and the fact that his body is Michael's true vessel and he cannot possess it without Dean's permission."

"So now you know, Sammy. This is what's behind the curtain. Not exactly the great and powerful Oz, is it? Anything else you need to know about me?" The dry scratchy tone was tinged in anger and fear. "You gonna take off now?" Dean asked. His voice was painful to listen to. Like he'd been screaming for years. Which he probably had, Sam realized with growing understanding and sadness. The finality in that last sentence had him turning back and looking over at his brother, straight in Dean's black-green eyes.

"I. Am Not. Leaving. You. Dean." Sam bit off the words trying to make Dean understand that he couldn't imagine walking away from the sacrifice his brother had made. He'd done this…become this…to save _Sam_. A flash of pain had him grimacing as Dean's gaze lifted to meet his.

"This is what I am now, Sam. I can't change this." The words were painful, like they were being pulled from some place deep within Dean's soul. He gestured at his mangled form with the arm missing his hand. The stump still looking bloody and horrifying as he did.

Sam shifted and stepped across the gap between their beds and gently laid his hand on his brother's soul. The physical impact of Dean's raw emotions was like an electrical blow to Sam's mind. The press of despair, anger, and bitter disappointment settled like a vice around Sam's head, squeezing all other thoughts out. The onslaught of everything that he knew Dean wanted to hide from him was nearly overwhelming.

"Please stop…" Dean whispered. His ragged voice was barely loud enough to reach Sam's ears. He didn't want his brother to know the full extent of the emotions raging beneath the surface. Some things weren't meant to be shared between brothers.

Sam pulled his hand away and looked over at Castiel, his voice was shaky. He couldn't stand to see Dean as this broken and deformed version of himself. "Put him back, Castiel."

The angel nodded and stepped forward, returning Dean to his body, behind the safety of his magical wards and sigils. "Do you now understand, Sam Winchester?"

"You didn't need to do that." Dean said softly. "I would've told him." He glanced over at Sam with a betrayed look clearly evident in his dark eyes. "If he'd just asked me."

"Dean…I'm sorry. I just needed to know if there was any chance that you could be fixed." He knew that he'd said the wrong thing when his brother's face instantly hardened.

"I'm not some busted-ass toy for you to play with, Sam. I'm not broken…" He hissed angrily. Dean didn't know if he was actually angry _with_ Sam, or if he was just plain pissed that his brother now knew the truth about him. Sam never should've been able to touch his disembodied soul…come to think of it; the angel shouldn't have been able to pull his soul out of his body without his consent, either. Sam continued on with his explanation and interrupted Dean's line of thinking.

"I know…and I get it now, Dean. I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to be alone…when I finally d…I'm gonna age." He turned and looked back at his brother. Dean was watching him with a blank stare, but Sam could tell, _he_ was listening. He just didn't like what Sam had to say. "You know that, right? I'm gonna get old. _If I live long enough to get old_…and eventually I'm gonna die. Then what happens to you?" Sam swallowed the Volkswagen sized ball of emotions filling his throat.

A flash of despair passed over Dean's face before he managed to hide it from Sam. "Not if I have anything to say about it." He finally said. The steely determination in his voice made Sam wonder if his brother knew something that he didn't. But it also made Sam both proud and a little sad. Their codependent relationship went so far beyond healthy that, frankly? It was just fucking scary.

"But that's just it, Dean. You won't have anything to say about it. Whether you like it or not…I'm not immortal…you...kinda…are." Sam knew that this was driving the knife deeper into his brother's heart, but he needed Dean to understand why he'd asked Castiel about his brother's soul.

Dean inhaled deeply and reached up to scrub a hand down his scruffy face. He glared at the angel for making this conversation even necessary. Castiel simply shrugged and turned back toward the window in silence. "Can we talk about this later, Sam?" Dean finally said thru clenched teeth. His eyes were closer to black than green at the moment and Sam knew that he'd pushed Dean about as far as he dared tonight. His brother was at a breaking point…and Sam wouldn't be the one thing that finally broke Deanafter both heaven and Hell had failed.

"Yeah…sure." He turned and moved back toward his own bed, pulling the comforter down before crawling between the scratchy white sheets. Sam turned back towards Dean before silently clicking off the lamp between them. "But we aren't done talking about this."

Dean groaned. "Never imagined we were." He knew his brother too well. If Sam had questions, then they would have to be answered before he would focus on anything else in their lives. The light flicked off and Dean leaned against the lumpy pillows. "G'night Sammy." He said quietly.

"Night Dean." His brother answered softly.

"Good night Sam and Dean Winchester." Castiel said causing both brothers to groan in unison at the somewhat creepy presence of the angel, in their room, while they slept.

The light flicked back on and Dean was sitting up and staring at the angel in irritation. "You're not gonna sleep?" Castiel shook his head 'no' and Dean groaned. "That's seriously creepy, dude." He looked over at the other bed and before turning the light off again, he did a quick assessment of Sam's condition. His brother was still sweating and his face was pinched in pain. Dean didn't know if it was pain from the headache or if it was pain from the withdrawals. He knew that he could alleviate some of that for Sam, but he was still too worried about the overwhelming addictiveness of the power that came with the blood. Sam had to learn to control that. Before they could even consider going after the gates.

"Stop looking at me, Dean. And go to sleep." Sam said without rolling over.

Dean smiled slightly at the order and turned the small lamp off before pulling the covers up over his shoulders. Tomorrow they would start training Sam…and he could start preparing for his part in this deal…the part that Sam could know nothing about until the last minute.

TBC…

**Authors Note:** _New chapter as promised. Hope you guys enjoy it. I'm really liking the direction the story is taking as I write, I hope that you do too. Thank everyone that reviewed the last chapter….and anyone that I cannot PM…Marie. _

**Please Review: You guys have really helped keep me focused on getting the chapters out quicker.**


	9. Metamorphosis

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

_**Previous Chapter:**_

"But that's just it, Dean. You won't have anything to say about it. Whether you like it or not…I'm not immortal…you...kinda…are." Sam knew that this was driving the knife deeper into his brother's heart, but he needed Dean to understand why he'd asked Castiel about his brother's soul.

Dean inhaled deeply and reached up to scrub a hand down his scruffy face. He glared at the angel for making this conversation even necessary. Castiel simply shrugged and turned back toward the window in silence. "Can we talk about this later, Sam?" Dean finally said thru clenched teeth. His eyes were closer to black than green at the moment and Sam knew that he'd pushed Dean about as far as he dared tonight. His brother was at a breaking point…and Sam wouldn't be the one thing that finally broke Deanafter both heaven and Hell had failed.

"Yeah…sure." He turned and moved back toward his own bed, pulling the comforter down before crawling between the scratchy white sheets. Sam turned back towards Dean before silently clicking off the lamp between them. "But we aren't done talking about this."

Dean groaned. "Never imagined we were." He knew his brother too well. If Sam had questions, then they would have to be answered before he would focus on anything else in their lives. The light flicked off and Dean leaned against the lumpy pillows. "G'night Sammy." He said quietly.

"Night Dean." His brother answered softly.

"Good night Sam and Dean Winchester." Castiel said causing both brothers to groan in unison at the somewhat creepy presence of the angel, in their room, while they slept.

The light flicked back on and Dean was sitting up and staring at the angel in irritation. "You're not gonna sleep?" Castiel shook his head 'no' and Dean groaned. "That's seriously creepy, dude." He looked over at the other bed and before turning the light off again, he did a quick assessment of Sam's condition. His brother was still sweating and his face was pinched in pain. Dean didn't know if it was pain from the headache or if it was pain from the withdrawals. He knew that he could alleviate some of that for Sam, but he was still too worried about the overwhelming addictiveness of the power that came with the blood. Sam had to learn to control that. Before they could even consider going after the gates.

"Stop looking at me, Dean. And go to sleep." Sam said without rolling over.

Dean smiled slightly at the order and turned the small lamp off before pulling the covers up over his shoulders. Tomorrow they would start training Sam…and he could start preparing for his part in this deal…the part that Sam could know nothing about until the last minute.

XXXX

**Chapter 9 **

_Metamorphosis_

The sound of someone gagging pulled Dean out of his somewhat restful sleep and he couldn't stop himself from lurching immediately to his feet and sprinting for the bathroom. He slammed into the door with his shoulder and it flew open, hitting the opposite wall hard enough to leave an imprint of the doorknob and busted plaster. _There goes the deposit. _Dean dismissed as he came to a halt. Sam was kneeling over the toilet again. His forearm was resting on the edge of the seat and his head was hanging over the edge of the bowl. In short…he looked completely miserable.

Dean swallowed the callous complaint about being woken up, which had immediately surged to his lips. Sam raised unfocused blue-green eyes in his direction. His long brown hair was plastered to the side of his head by the sweat rolling down his face. Sam's normally pale face was flushed dark angry shade of red. He'd also managed to pop a blood vessel in his left eye, leaving him looking a bit macabre.

"Ah, Sammy…you look like shit, dude." Dean said as he walked into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub.

"Was that supposed to make me…feel better?" Sam asked as he gulped around another bout of nausea. He reached up and took the small lime green hand towel that Dean offered to him. "Cuz your…bedside manner needs…work Florence."

Blonde eyebrow's rose at the reference. "Florence? As in Nightingale…the nurse?" Dean shifted uncomfortably and snatched the towel back as Sam sank down and leaned back against the wall. His elbows were resting on his pulled up knees and he allowed his head to fall back against the support of the wall. It had always been a bit of a mystery to Dean, how someone the size of Sam was able to reduce all 6'4 of his brother's massively large frame into a tiny ball in a corner.

"How many other…Nightingales have you…heard of?" Sam's eyes were glassy and he was having a hard time keeping his gaze focused on Dean. The grinding pain inside his head was getting worse, not better the longer he went without the blood. He wanted to be angry about the forced addiction, but he was simply too tired. Sam could barely make out the edges of Dean's true form. The tragically thrashed soul was pushing at the very edges of his big brother's human body. It was like the mangled version of his Dean's soul was simply _too big_ for his human form.

The hybrid huffed and rolled his black-green eyes in indignation, he didn't much appreciate being compared some mangy old nurse. "Well, there's the bird…and then there's the nurse…so, two. I guess." He smiled at his own clever response. The cheeky grin died a moment later when he realized that Sam wasn't paying attention. His brother's eyes had rolled back into his head and he was starting to topple over as his body gave in to the massive levels of stress over the last few days.

"Damn-it, Sammy." Dean groaned as his hand shot forward to stop Sam's uncontrolled descent toward the edge of the toilet and the cold tile floor. He'd wanted to avoid giving his brother any additional blood until it was no longer _necessary_ for Sam's body to survive. But watching the severe reaction to the cold-turkey method, was staring to make Dean rethink his plan. He leaned Sam against the bathtub and carefully slipped out of the room.

"Cas, Sam's not doing too good." He watched carefully as Castiel turned back toward him at the sound of his name.

"It's Castiel, not Cas… and his body had already begun the metamorphosis before we were able to retrieve him. There was nothing you could have done to stop that, Dean."

"I should've gotten there earlier." Dean said in anger. He shouldn't have taken the time to lock his soul inside this body. If he'd just gone directly after Sam, then he might have been able to stop the transformation all together.

The angel turned stoic blue eyes in Dean's direction and then his gaze flickered over to where Sam laid against the tub. "The only way you can help him is to give him what his body craves." It would not have been Castiel's first choice. But they were out of options the moment the blood past Sam's lips.

Dean's eyebrows narrowed. "And have him hooked on _demon-blood_ like some lame ass Vampire-junkie? No fucking way! There has to be another way…any other way." He hissed, the green in his eyes receding as the anger pushed to the front and the blackness took control.

"Well, you could give him your blood." Castiel said simply. There was no condemnation in his voice as he told Dean the simplest solution. It was the one thing that could truly damn Dean. If he used what had been done to him in Hell, to save his brother…would he be actually _saving_ Sam? Or would he be handing him a one-way ticket straight to the rack next to Dean's own?

He stumbled back from the angel as shock reduced his legs to jelly. It's not like he didn't know that his blood was demon blood…but using it to finish changing Sam? That didn't sound right…not even to his eternally _damned_ ears. The angel shook his head and walked toward the bathroom glancing in at Sam as he did. "No fucking way, Cas."

"Dean, the angelic grace has changed your DNA. Your blood is unlike any other demons or angels for that matter that is on Earth. You can save your brother without making him into the monster Zachariah intended. A little blood at a time will help to alleviate the severe effects and it will help us get Sam ready to train his developing powers." The angel stared at the demon like this whole thing was a no-brainer. "He will die otherwise." The last statement had Dean in his face.

"What the hell does that mean? 'He will die', you can't say shit like that Cas." Dean growled as he looked over his shoulder at the unconscious form of his brother. The angel watched the look of worry pass across the hybrid's face and he sighed.

"You can save him, Dean. You can save your brother."

Dean's black eyes swung back in his direction. His expression was blank, but his gaze was begging for more. "How." He said simply.

"Mix the blood. Dilute it and then give it to Sam."

"I never wanted this for him…I hate..." Dean broke off and grumbled as he walked to the small kitchenette. "Watch him." He turned and made sure the angel had understood his direction and then turned back toward the cabinet. He reached up and pulled out a Gatorade he'd put there earlier for Sam. It was grape, Sam's favorite. He poured some of the liquid into the sink and then set it on the counter as he reached for his knife. The razor sharp blade pulled easily across his skin and crimson blossomed on the pale skin of his wrist. He watched in sick fascination as the blood ran in rivulets down his skin and dripped into the brown sink. A slight shake of his head brought his attention back to the sting of the deep slice on his wrist. He set the knife down and grabbed the plastic bottle, allowing the blood to drain into it. He hadn't realized that the angel had been watching him through the whole process.

"That is enough blood, Dean."

He set the bottle down and then grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his wrist. The scar tissue was slowing down his ability to repair the damage. But it would heal, just slower than he would have liked. Dean's gaze met the intense blue of the angels and he nodded. "Okay…is he awake?"

Castiel's eyes flickered over and he nodded slightly. "He seems to be stirring."

A groan from the bathroom supported the angel's simple statement and Dean pulled in a breath to steady himself. This had been the last thing that he wanted. The whole idea was to keep those sons a bitches from ever getting their hands on Sam in the first place. Not trying to undo what they'd done. Dean wondered if there was a point at which he would pass all hope of reclaiming his soul for himself. If there was a line that he shouldn't cross…then _this_ was that line. But he _couldn't _lose Sam. If he did…then everything that he'd done; would've been for nothing. He would allow himself to wander down that path of darkness and whatever good the angelic grace had done for him would be lost.

"Dean, I cannot read your mind. But I know what you are thinking. Sam will survive...and you will not become that monster you fear." Castiel's voice cut through his silence and he turned black-green eyes in his direction.

"I'm already that monster, Cas. Can't change that." The words were heavy and honest as he thinned his lips and walked toward the bathroom. No answer came from the other man as Dean kneeled down next to Sam. "Hey…hey…" Sam's head rolled in the direction of his voice. The sweat rolling beads down his face and dripping off his chin down his chest.

"Mmmm?" His eyelids fluttered and Dean was finally rewarded with his brother's glassy blue-green gaze…the red of the broken blood vessels in his left eye reminded Dean of the cross-roads demon's…he pushed the heinous memory to the far recesses of his mind and focused on Sam.

"Sammy, drink this…it'll help with the headache." Dean knew that he wasn't really lying, but by not telling Sam exactly what he was up to, he felt like he was. He clenched his teeth and reached out to take Sam's shaking hand and help him raise the bottle to his lips. It only took a moment for something about the grape liquid to quench the burning thirst at the back of Sam's throat. He found himself guzzling the drink and a moment later he was leaning back against the cool porcelain of the bathtub as his headache reduced somewhat.

"What was it?" He asked a moment later.

Dean took the half-empty bottle and set it on the counter. "Gatorade."

"Gatorade and…" Sam pressed. He knew that he'd been too sick for the sports drink to have made him feel _this_ much better, as quickly as it had. His vision was clearing…well, it was clearing up in his right eye. The left eye was still a little blurry. He turned and looked at Dean…and swallowed the gasp that almost made it out of his throat. He was used to seeing Dean's body, but now he could see the mangled form of his soul, just below the surface. It was like looking at a horror picture through a piece of tracing paper.

Dean saw the shift and he stood and backed away from his brother. "What did you see, Sam?"

Sam's mouth worked while he struggled to find the words. "I…see…you." He wanted to look away, but the sight was intoxicating...seeing someone's soul.

His brother's eyes narrowed and he took a step backwards. "What?" Dean looked like he wanted to run from this conversation, but he wiped the reaction almost fast enough that Sam missed it…almost.

Sam swallowed and found he was able to pull himself to the edge of the tub. He settled on it and leaned forward as he waited for his head to clear more. "I can see…your soul." He finally managed.

Dean's eyes widened and he took a faltering step backwards. That wasn't what he'd been expecting his brother to say. "I…I don't understand." He looked out and Castiel in question. The angel moved from his sentry position near the window and walked to the doorway, settling near Dean as he looked in at Sam.

Almost immediately, Sam was covering his eyes, like it was too bright in the room. "What the hell, Casitel…" He grumbled.

Looking at the angels form was like looking at the sun. Castiel's soul/grace, _whatever it was an angel had,_ it was all brilliant multi-colored hues that were almost painful to look at. "It will get better, Sam."

Dean's eyes flashed in his direction as the anger re-surfaced. "You _knew_ this would happen? What the fuck, Cas." He ground out through clenched teeth. "You couldn't warn a man?"

The angel glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow. "You would have made a different choice?"

That stopped Dean. He huffed and turned back toward Sam. The color was starting to return and he was looking more aware. "Can I have the rest of that Gatorade?" He asked, his eyes staring hungrily at the half full bottle.

Dean's eyebrows cut down in concern as he glanced over his shoulder at the angel. Castiel nodded and Dean blew out an irritated breath before picking up the drink and handing it back to Sam. As their fingers brushed against one another, Dean felt an almost electric shock travel between them. He pulled his hand back like he'd been burned. In that one electrifying moment, he'd felt his brother's emotions. His eyes pulled up and he stared into Sam's surprised gaze.

"What was that?" Sam whispered.

Dean shook his head.

"It is the blood…and the connection and power that grows within both of you." Castiel's words cut through the brother's surprise and they both stared at the angel.

"What connection?" Dean asked. He knew he and Sam had always been close. But this…this was…just wrong.

Sam didn't understand what the angel had said any better than his brother had. He knew that Dean was different after Hell, but he hadn't thought that _he'd_ changed all that much…at least not yet. But it would appear that he was wrong. Both he and Dean had crossed some line…and it didn't appear as if they were done changing yet. Sam wondered just what the hell that meant for their futures.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Sorry about the one post this week. I had project that I couldn't delay to write, I will try and get another chapter up in two days. Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed. Hope you like the new chapter, more action coming in the next chapter as the boys and Castiel as found and go on the run. _

_I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. '**There is nothing new under sun**' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please Review: I use them as motivation to write. Thank you.**


	10. Surprise Attack

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 10**

_Surprise Attack_

Sleep finally came, but not in the form that Dean had hoped it would. He'd wanted to simply pass out and be allowed to rest, but his mind was not interested in what his body wanted. It replayed his death and his re-birth, if that was what one wanted to call it, over and over inside his mind. There was no escaping the memories. The pain and the fear…the terror that he'd felt as his eyes had darkened in death and he heard Sam screaming from his pinned position. A sick part of his brain wondered if that was what an insect felt like before it was pinned to a board and put on display. The way Sam must have felt as he watched Dean's body get ripped apart by the hellhounds.

He'd finally given up on the idea of sleep and had simply settled for staring at the peeling white plaster on the ceiling, listening to Sam breathe into the darkness. His brother was no longer struggling for air. The wheezing had ceased once the blood had been absorbed into his system. The new found ability to see Dean as he truly was….was a bit disconcerting. But Dean assumed that it might be helpful, since he couldn't very well spot an angel inside a meat suit. Demons were easier to differentiate from normal humans…something about the violence of their natures would show through, even when they tried to hide it.

He swallowed and decided that he'd had enough of lying on the lumpy mattress and hauled himself up. He took a moment to sit on the edge of the bed and collect his thoughts before deciding that watching Castiel stare out the window wasn't interesting. The idea of a hot shower was soon pulling him toward the bathroom. He glanced over at Sam and his eyebrows knitted together in concern. The anger and the rage were all there beneath his surface of control, but Sam was having a soothing effect on him. As he thought back to their childhood, it occurred to him, that his younger brother had always had that effect on him. While he'd been hot headed, Sam had been slow to react, but quick to think. He grabbed his duffel bag and pointedly ignored the angel standing guard over their window.

Dean hadn't been in the shower for five minutes when all hell broke loose in the other room. He heard shouting and Sam's call as something immediately muffled his brother's voice. Dean scrambled out of the shower, not even bothering to throw a towel around his waist, and burst dripping wet into the adjoining room. His eyes widened when he noticed five men holding Sam against the mattress as he struggled. A large cloth descending to cover his brother's mouth and nose. The angel was nowhere to be seen, but a sigil in blood over the bed rattled something loose in Dean's memories. But the chaos inside their room gave him no time to contemplate the meaning. He didn't even think, suddenly the men were flying backwards. Each one screaming in anger as they found themselves pinned to either the wall or the ceiling of the motel room. Dean pushed at their physical bodies with his mind. He could feel the bones breaking beneath the onslaught of power, but he couldn't stop himself.

He didn't even notice that Sam was now standing next to him, not until his brother's hand rested on his shoulder. Sam was calling into the void of Dean's rage. His older brother's eyes were completely black, not a hint of green anywhere. His face was twisted in a mass of anger so deep that Sam could almost _feel_ it. His hands had curled into something that looked more like a claw than a human hand.

Sam stared at the mayhem in front of him. The demon's borrowed bodies were starting to _literally_ pull apart as Dean destroyed their human forms. Something about it was so violent that it took Sam a moment to decide what to do. He finally placed himself in front of Dean and took a deep breath before wrapping his arms around his brother and pulling him against his chest. He felt Dean stiffen at the contact. His arms came flying up in an attempt at breaking the contact the instant they touched. Sam ground his teeth together as he felt what was sure to be a bruise later and tightened his arms.

"Dean…stop." He said. Sam almost didn't recognize his own voice, the timbre was wrong…deeper and more authoritative.

His brother's eyes flickered to meet his and he tilted his head to the side. Dean blinked several times as he stared into the eyes of his only living family. After a moment, Sam saw the green seep back into the blackness and the sanity returned. "Sammy? You okay?"

Sam's eyes drifted around their room. The demons must have smoked out at some point, because all that was left was the unconscious and battered bodies of the previously possessed men. "Guess they bit off more than they could chew." He said as his gaze dropped and then flashed back up when he realized that Dean was still buck-naked. "Mind putting some clothes on? That's way more of you than I ever wanted to see, dude."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows and then glanced down. "What? I look awesome." He managed to smile slightly as he turned and strolled into the bathroom where his duffel held clean clothes. He was still trying to come down off the high. The power that he'd had access to, was way beyond anything that he'd experienced to date…and he wanted it again. But right now, he needed to worry about Sam. Dean pushed the door, but didn't latch it as he pulled on clean levi's and a black t-shirt. "I think we should get the hell outta here."

"What about Castiel?" Sam called back. Dean could hear him moving around the room, probably packing up their stuff.

"He'll catch up. I gotta feeling he can find us again." The angel had told him that he couldn't _track him._ But chances were he could find Sam. _We need to remedy that._ Dean thought quickly as he pulled on the white socks and then walked back into the main room. His boots were sitting at the end of his bed, he settled on the edge and stuffed his feet into them. Sam's stocking covered feet stopped directly in front of him, causing him to glance up.

"Where are we going?" Sam looked better. He was standing up straight and his face wasn't flushed with need.

"Some place safe." Dean said as he stood up and grabbed his leather jacket off the chair. "You ready?"

Sam shook his head and then grabbed his own boots. He smiled slightly when he noticed that Dean was standing at the window in a mirror position of the angel. "At least if you're wearing that, I won't have to burn out my eyes outta my skull."

The words were out before he could stop them. But the look of pain that passed over Dean's face made Sam wince. He kept forgetting that anything he said might have been a form of torture that his brother had been subjected to in Hell. "I'm…" Somehow 'sorry' just didn't seem to cut it.

Dean saw the struggle going on inside of Sam and he wiped the emotions from his face in an instant. "Sam, stop. Don't mention it." He grabbed his gun and the demon-killing knife off the bedside table. He was out the door before Sam could say anything else. He watched as Dean's back disappeared around the corner of the building. He glanced at the men still lying unconscious inside their room and rushed to grab his things before scrambling after Dean.

XXXX

Castiel searched the area where he'd last been with the Winchesters. Their tracks were fading, Sam would be the easier of the two to track. Dean was impossible. The angel leaned against the railing of the second story room as he thought. What would be Dean's next move? He'd been found by both demons and angels in the last two days, that meant that they were leaving some sort of trail. Where would he go now? The only living person that both of the Winchesters trusted was Bobby Singer. Would the hybrid risk bringing the wrath of heaven and hell down on the old man by going back there?

He might if he thought that the old hunter could help Sam. Castiel shifted so that he could listen in on what was going on in 'heaven'. The chatter was all about the hybrid and the coming apocalypse. There were mentions of the unintentional loss of Sam and subsequently the loss of their ability to free Lucifer from the pit. The need to find Dean was increasing and so was the need to retrieve Dean's body so Michael could claim his rightful place as the leader of the heavenly armies. Things were rapidly spiraling out of control. He needed to find the Winchesters.

XXXX

Dean looked over at Sam. His brother had started to sweat again and his eyes were turning glassy. It wasn't as bad as it had been the day before, but it wasn't a good sign. It meant that those asshole angels had done a better job of hooking Sam on the demon blood than Dean had anticipated. "You okay?" Dean asked as he split his focus between the road and his brother.

Sam turned toward him and sighed. "I've been better." His eyes shifted to the landscape flashing past before coming back to land on Dean. "Don't suppose you have any more of that of that Gatorade?"

Dean snorted and shook his head. He wouldn't be giving Sam any more blood. They'd only needed to stop the decline of his body during the first twenty-four hours. Now they would need to teach Sam to control the changes as they continued to come. The blood would only cloud his humanity and that wasn't going to help them in the long run.

"Didn't think so…" Sam said as he twisted his hands together. He was biting at his lower lip in an attempt to push the craving down. It wasn't as bad as it had been yesterday…but it wasn't exactly comfortable. "So why do you think we can _feel_ each other?" He was trying to think about anything but his bodies need for a fix.

Black-green eyes turned in his direction. "Uh…that sounded a bit…" Dean didn't finish the sentence since it came really close to being about the worst thing he'd ever thought of. "You're such a girl, Sam."

Sam looked over and shrugged. "Answer the question, Dean."

"I have no clue. Maybe because we're both the boys with the demon blood, now." His lips twitched in humor and he shook his head. "I guess even Hell can't separate the Winchester brothers."

"Where are we going, Dean?" Sam clenched his teeth as a headache started to settle in at the base of his skull. When his brother didn't immediately answer, he turned toward him. Dean was staring straight ahead, his jaw muscle jumping. "Dean, I have a right to know."

"Bobby's."

Sam opened his mouth and suddenly the Impala was flying through the air. It landed and rolled several times over before it came to a screeching halt of twisted metal on the side of the road. His head bounced off the side of the car and Sam's world tilted. When it finally stopped rolling he groaned and reached up to touch at the lump on the side of his head. The crimson that stained his hand when he pulled it away had Sam swallowing and blinking several times. _Dean_…he shifted and winced as his arm flared in pain. "Dean…" He looked over and gasped at the gaping hole in the roof. Looking out into the field instead of at the sky was making Sam feel sick. But not as sick as the sight of the empty seat next to him.

"Dean!" He cried into the empty air. Sam scrambled, his knees buckling twice before he made it out of the wrecked vehicle. He crawled from the twisted metal and turned in a circle looking for Dean. But he was utterly alone on the side of the highway…

A flutter caught his attention and he twisted slowly as his injuries sang in complaint. The trench coat wearing angel came into view and Sam wanted to rip his wings off. "Where. Is. He?" The words were bit off and angry.

Castiel held out his hand to help Sam to his feet. The youngest Winchester ignored to proffered hand and pushed himself to his feet. "Where the hell is my brother, Cas." The angel rolled his eyes at the nickname and exhaled deeply, the air growing cloudy in the cold of the morning.

"I tried to find you both before my brother's did." He turned and looked at Sam…and Sam could've sworn that he looked…sad. Like he'd failed somehow. "I did not succeed. I am sorry, Sam."

The air stalled in Sam's throat and he turned horrified eyes on the angel. "Those bastards have Dean?" He sank back against the car, his heart aching for the loss of Dean's beloved Impala. "What're they gonna do to him?" He wasn't sure that he really wanted to know, but he _had _to know.

Castiel's lips thinned in anger. "Torture is the least of Dean's worries at the moment."

"What the f…" Sam swore. His head was spinning and he wasn't sure if it was from the wreck, pain, or the fact that his blood was singing with need. But it wasn't overwhelming. He could control the thirst and that made him crave the power that he'd felt. It was all right there, just beneath the surface…but he needed Dean to learn how to access that power…he needed to be able to save his brother now.

The angel spun, breaking the boys train of thought. He grabbed onto Sam stopping him mid-sentence. "We have to go…now!"

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Answers are forth coming in the next chapter as the angels start to reveal their plan and Castiel is forced to let Sam in on the secret behind closing the gate. Hope you guys liked the new chapter. Thank you to everyone that took the time to read and review the last chapter._

**Please Review: Keep letting me know what you think, please.**


	11. Separated

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 11**

_Separated_

Dean blinked several times as he waited for his head to quite spinning. Last thing he remembered, he'd been driving along and talking to Sam, the next thing he knew he was struggling to simply remain conscious. _Wait, what the hell had happed to his car_? Pain lanced through his system and that caused Dean to pry his heavy eyelids open in search of why. He groaned when he saw the IV dripping into a tube that appeared to be attached to his arm, a silver needle disappearing into the vein on his left arm. The skin surrounding it was an angry red with light blue web-like tendrils spiraling outward. He rolled his head to the side and attempted to discern where he was.

His eyes blew wide when he recognized the distinct reddish glow that seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "No…." He groaned. It wasn't possible. He'd gotten out of Hell…how was he back here? He'd spent so many years inside this room, on the rack, that he would never be rid of the images. The familiar warmth of anger spread throughout his system, giving him the strength to look around. The walls were the same black lava rock, with rivulets of liquid fire running along the cracks and crevices. The ceiling was made up of the bones of the unfortunate souls that Alistair had taken a 'liking' to. Dean wasn't sure how that worked exactly, since there were no corporeal forms in Hell. He'd spent years trying to figure it out…he never had.

He struggled against the rack he was lying on. It took a moment for him to realize that his hands and legs weren't tied down. Dean tried to move them, but whatever they were giving him was keeping him from having any control over his body what so ever. "Son of a bitch…" He ground out.

"Dean, you can struggle all you want. You still won't be leaving this chamber under your own power. My god…you actually thought you were out, didn't you? This is even better than I'd thought." Dean's eyelids fell shut at the sound of Alistair's rough voice. He'd been taunted by the sound of the demon's voice for over a hundred years. It wasn't something that he would ever forget. No matter how much he wanted to. The master torturer sauntered around the corner of the metal rack holding Dean. His white eyes glinting with humor as he watched his pupil stare up at him in rage and confusion. "You can't escape Hell, Dean…but it was fun watching you try." He stepped up and ran a silver blade along Dean's forearm. The blood blossomed against the pale freckled skin and ran down only to drip through the natural holes in the metal.

The hybrid bit his teeth together in pain, as fire lurched up his body from the wound and clouded his vision. "What's…in the bag? Party favors?" He growled through tight lips. His black-green eyes shifting to look at the IV drip. Whatever it was, it was damn effective. Dean couldn't access any of his powers, angelic or demonic alike. There was an odd numbness spreading along his limbs and clouding his thinking.

"Oh, that?" Alistair gestured to the clear liquid. "Just a little mixture of Holy water and silver nitrate…rather ingenious wouldn't you say? Mix the two things that can poison a demon and an angel and you know what you get? A way to keep a hybrid under control." He smiled. The yellowed teeth were making Dean wonder if the demon might not be telling the truth. Everything was too familiar, down the rancid stench of Alistair's breath. Had the whole thing been in his head? Was Sam still safe up on Earth? "It will help me keep you here…dulls your powers to the point of non-existence." He grinned. "So we can play."

"Where's Sam?" He spat at the demon around the muddy thoughts swirling through his brain. He cast his eyes around the room and ignored the smell of burning flesh and the distant sounds of screams.

"Oh, baby Sammy is just fine. The angels have him." Alistair stopped to stare directly into Dean's wide eyes. "Don't worry, I'm sure they're giving him the VIP treatment."

Icy fire raced along his veins as Alistair reached for the knob on the drip and it increased to more of slow steady flow than a drip. Dean struggled against the drug, but his body wouldn't cooperate anymore. Images of Sam hanging from the rafters in that white room flooded his brain and he felt his chest tighten at the thought that he had failed so miserably. His only job had been to take care of Sam. With all the powers of both heaven and hell, he'd still managed to fuck it up. His job had been to make sure that his little brother was safe and relatively happy. He'd tried so damn hard…and it was all for nothing.

"I love the smell of self-loathing in the morning." Alistair taunted as he stepped around to Dean's other side, pulling in a deep breath and then sliding the blade along the edges of Dean's black t-shirt, splitting it wide open and revealing the smooth expanse of skin beneath. The only exception was the scar that ran through the tattoo over his heart. Breaking the sigil and allowing him to take his body back…they'd gotten all the details right on this one. "It's so smooth…like when we started." The white eyes flickered up and met Dean's strange colored gaze. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you all over again, Dean." The blade pulled over the anti-possession tattoo creating a cross and he laughed. The blood dripped down his side and into his armpit before dropping off onto the stone floor.

Dean's teeth remained tightly clenched and he swallowed the cry of pain that the silver blade left in its wake. If he was still in Hell…then why did the silver hurt so damn much? Or in that case, why would Alistair even _need_ to drug him…Dean's brain started running over the facts as the demon continued to cut into his flesh. The truth of the situation had to be…that he _wasn't _in Hell. He was up top and they were trying to destroy what sanity he had left. _Well, good luck asshats, I've been through worse._ He thought. He needed to keep control of his mind, so that he could figure out how to get the hell outta this place. If those bastard angel's had gotten their mitts on Sam again…then his brother didn't have much time. Which meant that he had to figure out how to outsmart Hell's number one.

XXXX

Something in the air crackled and Sam found his gaze shifting to the distance. His vision was blurred but he was pretty sure that there was something heading his way. The angel looked in the direction of his eyeline. "We have to go…now" He said.

Sam's eyes narrowed and he stared at the angel in shock. "I'm not going anywhere until I know where the hell…" He was cut off when the dark haired man grabbed his arm and Sam felt the now familiar unease that always seemed to come with teleporting. "…Dean's at…" He looked around and then glared at the shorter being. "Where the hell are we?" He reached up and pressed his hand against his head. The blood was still oozing sluggishly through his fingers. He didn't recognize the area, patches of large pine trees and cabins seemed to be spread out everywhere. The air was crisp, almost cold as he breathed heavily into the morning mist.

Castiel's blue eyes travelled the area for a moment before coming back to rest on Sam. "West Yellowstone." He finally said.

"What? Why?" Sam's voice was pitched high and his head was killing him. The teleporting hadn't done a damn thing for his rolling stomach. He wanted to puke in the sagebrush off to his left. Only his hatred of being embarrassed in public kept him from doing it.

"It was necessary to get you out of that area. My brothers were coming back…for you." Castiel turned toward one of the cabins. "Do you have money to pay for one of these?" He asked as he waved at the small buildings.

Sam shrugged. He swallowed when his vision darkened near the edges. His fingers dug around in his back pocket and he pulled out his wallet handing it to the angel. "Better hurry, Cas. I feel dizzy." He sank to his knees and dropped back onto a log that was apparently there to mark a parking spot. Castiel stepped forward and grabbed Sam's wallet and walked into the main office, a moment later he returned with a key attached to a stick.

"Was that fast enough?" He asked as he walked across the lot toward cabin number 4. Sam gulped and hauled himself back to his feet. The world spun momentarily and he waited a moment for his legs to lock.

The door clicked closed and Sam sank onto the bed nearest the door. He licked his lips as the headache pushed against the backs of his eyes. Looking at Castiel was still a bit painful, he could see the colorful edges of the angels 'grace' and it made him want to look away. Sam's thoughts turned to Dean and he felt his chest tighten in pain and loss. He'd thought that it couldn't get any worse than the way he'd felt a year ago…he was wrong. Losing his big brother _again_ was so much worse. Maybe it was the fact that Sam knew, first hand, what those damn angels were capable of…or maybe it was the fact that he hadn't had a moment to even absorb the simple truth that Dean came back…from Hell. Either way, it was like all of the heaviness of the last few days settle on his shoulders in one moment. _Oh shit…Dean's car…_ The thought of the Impala lying wrecked on the edge of some highway felt like the straw that broke the camel's back.

"I sent a message to Bobby Singer. He should be on his way to retrieve Dean's vehicle." Castiel answered before Sam could ask the question.

Sam wanted to focus on that, but first he needed to know what the plan was for rescuing Dean. "Okay…angels sending 'messages'…weird." He turned his full attention on the man in the trench coat. "How're we gonna get Dean away from the angels?"

Castiel moved toward the couch near the other bed. "I am not sure it is my brothers that have Dean."

Sam pulled his head out of his hands and stared at him. "What?" He shifted and ground his teeth together as his head pounded particularly hard at that moment. The bruising that had been relatively light to this point made itself known when he touch the side of his head. He hissed in pain and focused on breathing.

"I can help with the pain." Castiel said simply. He took a step toward Sam only to have the young man holdup his hand up to stop the angel.

"Later…how do we get to Dean? Who has him…and where?"

"I am not sure at this time. But I do not think that it is Zachariah…" Castiel moved to the window and glanced out before pulling the curtains more tightly closed. "I will need to leave to ascertain who took your brother."

Sam could tell that he was only getting part of the story. The angel knew more than he was letting on. "What aren't you telling me, Cas?" He asked as he shifted his weight and reached for the medical kit that Castiel had taken from somewhere. Apparently, the angel had figured out that he would be in need of medical attention and had at least brought that one item along. He pulled out the white gauze pad and placed it against the base of his skull. A shock of pain ran through his head before he looked back at the angel again.

Blue eyes rose to meet Sam's unwavering gaze. "I believe that my brothers may had enlisted help."

"Okay…help from who?"

"That is what I do not know. I must go now, Sam. I will be back soon." In a flutter of sound he was gone, leaving Sam sitting on the bed in frustration and fear. He was scared. Sam grabbed his cell phone where it'd been stashed inside his coat pocket. He sighed in relief when he saw that it hadn't been broken in the accident.

"Bobby?" He asked when a gruff voice answered.

There was a pause before Bobby's answer came through the speaker. "Sam? You okay?" The old man had known that Dean had gone after his brother after angels had taken him. But to get a call from Sam without knowing whether or not Dean had managed to save him…it set off his hunter instincts.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Okay, so that wasn't exactly true. But it was as close to the truth as he was gong to tell Bobby over the phone. "Did you get the car?"

"I have one of my guys picking it up and hauling it back to the salvage yard." The old hunter said. He was worried about the boys. "Where's that idgit brother of yours? He okay?"

The silence on the other end of the phone was enough to answer that question. Sam shifted and sat back against the headboard, holding the pad against his head. His eyes were swimming in unshed tears. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

""I have no clue where the hell Dean is. He was taken by whatever caused the accident. Castiel went to check out something."

"That the angel?" Bobby didn't sound all that enthused about the beings involvement. But then again, he probably wasn't that enthused about Dean's return either. Bobby knew enough to know that the only way that the eldest Winchester could have returned from hell was by becoming what they wanted him to become. That meant that his help wasn't a sure thing. "You know he ain't your brother anymore right? At least not completely."

Sam sat up and shook his head. "Whatever happened to Dean in Hell…it didn't change who he is Bobby." It was the first time that Sam had defended Dean since his death and it felt good. He wasn't just saying these things to Bobby. Sam actually _believed_ them. He believed that for whatever reason Dean was, at his core, the same soul he'd been before he'd gone to Hell. "I've seen it…he's the same, Bobby."

"But that don't make no sense, boy. How can he be the same?" The old hunters voice was gruff, but he was at least listening to Sam.

"I don't know…Bobby…I don't know anymore than you do. I just _know_ that Dean's worth saving. He's my brother, Bobby. I won't lose him again." Sam's plea resounded inside of their father's friend and he sighed with acceptance.

"Okay…tell me where you are and I'll meet you in the next day. I might have some books that can shed some light on what we're dealing with here."

Sam allowed a hint of a smile to play at the corners of lips. He pushed down the ever present need for the power of the blood and focused on saving his brother. "Alright…just bring anything about angels, demons, and the apocalypse." He hung up the phone and looked at the bed that was usually his.

"Sam…" He jumped only just realizing that he'd missed the flutter that announced the arrival of Castiel.

"Son of a bitch, Cas…make some noise would'ya." He waited for his heart to climb down out of his throat and take its rightful place in his chest.

"I am sorry for startling you, Sam. But I think I know who has taken Dean…" The angel turned away from Sam for a moment. He didn't want the human to see the concern he was feeling. He'd never been pitted against such powerful forces and he was nervous. "We must get your powers under control and then we can go after Dean."

"That doesn't work me. I'm not leaving my brother to those bastards any longer than they've already had him."

"It seems that our friends have their own _friends_…ones that are not on our level." A voice that Sam didn't recognize chimed in. His head spun toward the bathroom and there leaning against the wall was a shorter blonde man. He was wearing a lopsided grin, but his energy was brighter than even Castiels.

Castiel stepped forward. "Sam, this is _my_ older brother…Gabriel. And I trust him."

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Here's the next chapter. I honestly didn't know I was going to bring Gabriel into this one until I was writing. But I like the direction it's heading. They will be working to rescue Dean in the next chapter, if he doesn't manage to rescue himself before then. The brother's wil be together and on the hunt soon. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing the previous chapters. _

**Please Review: I want to know what you think. So please take a moment and let me know.**


	12. Ancient Alliances

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 12**

_Ancient Alliances_

Memories that had been long since buried were dragged to the surface as Alistair went to work on Dean. The drug kept him lucid enough to know what was going on, while keeping him incapacitated. Not even the angel side of his soul could fight the combined efforts of the drug and the white-eyed demon.

The blade pulled slowly along his entire right side and Dean nearly bit through his lip in an effort to keep from crying out. Blood was running in steady streams of crimson down his side and onto the stained rock below. With each of the long incisions Alistair was chipping away at his sanity. The demon talked about what Sam had gone through while Dean had been in Hell. He explained how low Sam had gotten one night. How he'd almost eaten a bullet when he'd run out of whiskey to drown his loneliness and shame in. The bastard kept chatting about what the angels, not to mention the demons, had in store for the youngest Winchester. How he'd no longer he himself…he talked about how Sammy was going to be the beginning of the end. The one true vessel for Lucifer and his triumphant return to earth. How Sam would take over control of Hell and command all those that serve…demon, witch, and monster alike.

Dean was focused on ignoring the fiery pain that was spreading throughout his body. The silver was leaving a blinding wash of agony in its wake. He ground his teeth together in an attempt to ignore the slowly spreading warmth. He'd mastered the ability of pushing the pain to the back of his mind in the early years of his confinement to Hell. But it wasn't easy and things seemed to hurt a hell of a lot more _here_ in this reality than they had when he'd been sent downstairs. Mostly, it seemed as though Alistair _wanted_ to taunt him and make him feel next to worthless. But there was one thing that the demon seemed to have forgotten, that this wasn't Dean's first rodeo. He'd already had his insides turned into crimson spaghetti the first time around. This time he _knew_ what to expect. He could guard against the splitting agony that could've broken a lesser man.

"You know your brother begged for us to kill you…did you know that?" The husky voice cut through the darkness and pierced his thoughts. "He didn't want to deal with what you are."

Dean's eyes spun in the direction of the new voice. He stared at the blonde haired man that had appeared as though from nowhere. Something about him appeared to be familiar, but Dean couldn't put his finger on what it was. "You guys telling me bedtime…stories now?" He ground out around the pain working its way along his side. Alistair had been paying particular attention to his ribs today. He was able to shift some of his energy down to keep himself from bleeding out, but he wasn't able to actually heal the wounds caused by the silver blade.

"Oh…aren't we the snarky one." The young man appeared to be about 23. He walked around the bed Dean was lying on and stared at the damage done to the hybrid. He watched as the hybrids gaze struggled to focus on his face. "I don't suppose we can stay away from his face? I actually quite like it…it'll look good on me."

That got Dean's attention. He turned his head and glared at the young man. "In case you hadn't noticed, this bodies already leased out."

Alistair stepped forward. "Ah yes…but we have an arrangement that will fix that."

The blonde-haired man turned his brilliant blue gaze on the demon. Nothing in those icy blue eyes was friendly; he looked as though merely talking to the white-eyed demon was beneath him. Two other forms materialized out of the darkness and Dean groaned when he recognized Zachariah and Uriel. "Yes. We do. Get him to accept my presence Alistair. Or I'll conveniently forget our _arrangement_."

"Who are you…" Dean managed to spit out.

"Me? I suppose you wouldn't recognize him in this form would you? Seeing as you never officially met." The man spun around and then squatted next to Dean. He was graceful like a cat. "Can't see the resemblance can you? I suppose he looked bit different when he died…younger, more weary…beaten down by life and loss." He leaned in so his intense sapphire colored eyes were only inches from Dean's face. "He was tired of watching you father haul your sorry ass all across the country…you know that's why John left that first time? You know that time he disappeared and that sent you racing to California…the one decision that made you pull little Sammy away from his normal life…and drag him into this existence."

Dean's eyes widened and he pulled his eyebrows together as he pieced what the man was saying together with what he already knew. He stared into the unblinking eyes of the man watching him with a raised eyebrow. _No…that can't be true…dad did not do that…_ But as he stared at the younger man, his heart sank.

"You never knew you had another little brother did you?" The man said as he stepped forward. Hatred shining out of his eyes as he stared at Dean.

"Took you long enough. I can see why they say Sammy is the smart one." He stood and stepped away. "I am your brother, Dean. The brother that you left to the evils of this world…and then they tore me apart and ate me and my mother."

"What the hell does that mean?" Dean asked as he blinked the surprise away and his anger rose to take its place. How the hell had this happened? How had his family become the turning point for the war to end all wars?

Alistair had snatched him up and now he finds out that these body-snatching sons a bitches had stolen his father's body too? But this wasn't how John had looked like at any point in his life that Dean could remember. He was younger and more light-hearted. "Who are you?"

The being possessing his father shrugged. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you don't know who I am. I do tend to keep a bit of a low profile." He glanced around at the men surrounding Dean's prone form. "I hadn't planned on talking to anyone until I was in possession of your body…but desperate times an all…I will take that body though."

"Occupado." Dean said simply.

His brother smiled. "My name is Michael…and I can make do with Adam's body…but to be at full power, since you have some of my 'grace'." He glared over at Zachariah before continuing. "I will have my rightful body, Dean." His voice dropped in anger and went icy cold as he stared unblinking at the hybrid.

"I thought it was set in stone. Me and Sam…being vessels." Dean was trying to keep his thoughts centered on the conversation. But whatever Alistair was doing to him was causing him to have crazy strange lapses in memories.

Michael rolled his eyes and looked over at Uriel in exasperation. "Wow…you really are the dumb one. It's a bloodline Dean. You, Sammy, your father…your brother…and so on back through time." He reached out and shoved his finger into a particularly nasty hole made by Alistair's blade and then twisted. Dean couldn't hold back the cry of pain as he automatically tried to twist away. His body betraying him when it refused to move and the archangel ground his fingers into the gaping hole. "While you are my true-vessel…you aren't my only vessel" He shifted from right to left and pulled at the wound. Dean's face scrunched in a mask of agony and he bit through his bottom lip. The blood leaked down his face and eventually joined the growing puddle on the floor. "But don't you worry Dean. I still want to possess _your_ body…its such a prime specimen for humanity…but I can wait until Alistair has loosened up your hold."

He tore his fingers away and Dean gasped as his body spasmed at the continued torture. Michael turned toward Alistair. "Make it quick…in the mean time. I think I'll go have a little chat with Sammy." He smiled and was almost out of the room before Dean got out his next words.

"I'll kill you if you touch him." He spat the blood out, which had pooled in his mouth, right behind the words and his eyes shifted from the black-green to obsidian black.

The angel turned back toward him. "I'm sure you'll try." And then he was gone along with his little minions. Dean was left in complete and utter silence for the first time in days. He shifted slightly and noticed that he at least had some control of his upper body. He wondered if he could move his lower arm enough to dislodge the needle?

Something pulled at his control and he settled back into the iron rack and focused his thoughts on the power that was just beyond his reach. It felt like a rubber band stretched around his body and if he could just push at it then maybe…a sudden snapping sensation had him groaning in pain. It felt as though the wounds had just started to heal before the power snapped back against his soul. "Ugh…" He managed. Dean hadn't noticed before, but his left leg wasn't responding to anything…he no motor control over the limb. He didn't know what that would mean in the long run, but at the moment his concern was getting the fucking needle out of his arm.

The idea that these asshats might have actually nabbed Sam when they took him, had Dean shoving at the band of energy again. His mind expanding, much like when he was trying to do something through telekinesis. As Dean pushed, he felt the weight of the needle and how it had broken the skin at his elbow. The blood vein that the drug was feeding into pulsed painfully…and the liquid flowing through his system felt like he could actually sense the atoms that made up the silvery drug. Dean pushed harder and that was when he felt the damage to his leg. He gasped as the pain caught him off guard, but he managed to push the small needle out. Dean inhaled deeply at the immediate relief.

It only took a moment before he could shift his shoulders. Dean clenched his teeth and pushed a flood of fire through his body in an attempt to burn out what was left of the drug. The band extended further and further away from his soul. As it did, he regained control of his muscles. Relief flooded his mind as some of the wounds began to heal at a reduced speed. He pushed even harder and then focused on Sam's face. It only took a moment for his sense to reach out and find where his brother was located. He was nowhere near Dean's location. The hybrid sighed as the pain finally took its payment and the band snapped closed again. His eyes drifted closed with the satisfaction of knowing that those sons a bitches hadn't managed to take Sammy too.

XXXX

Sam stared at the two angels in disbelief. He barely trusted Castiel and now he'd brought in another angel? As far as Sam knew, this guy Gabriel could have been in on snatching Dean. He looked at the two men and shook his head, the distrust clearly evident on his face.

"I can see what you're thinking Sam…but I didn't have a damn thing to do with your brother's abduction. That's all on my brother's." Gabriel said as he pulled a candy bar from his pocket and ripped into the package. A second later he was making obscene noises as he enjoyed the treat a little too much for Sam's comfort. "Not really my style." He continued, tossing the package onto the floor before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He stared at the youngest Winchester in amusement. "Doesn't look like much, does he?" His golden eyes shifted to Castiel.

Sam glared at the smaller man in disgust. "You know I can hear you, right?" He growled. The pain in his head wasn't making him all that sociable…or maybe it was the fact that his brother had been taken right out from under their noses and they'd been unable to stop it.

"They are more than they seem, Gabriel." Castiel said evenly.

Sam's eyes flashed to the angels in irritation. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cas."

Gabriel's eyebrows went up at that. "Cas?" A slow smiled spread across his lips. "Oh, I think I like that." He grinned and pushed off the wall, coming to a stop directly in front of Sam. The golden eyes were appraising as he stared at the human. "He is mid-transformation, Cas." The archangel turned mischievous golden eyes in his brother's direction. He smirked when he saw his brother roll his eyes as the nickname.

"I am aware." The dark haired angel said.

"We need his brother to train him, properly." Gabriel said as he leaned in closer to Sam, smiling when the larger man moved away from the unwanted attention. "Or else we need another demon."

That got Sam's attention. "What?" He could not have heard that correctly. There was no way that they _needed_ a demon in their lives.

"Your powers will grown, Sam." Castiel gestured between himself and his brother. "We can help you to control certain aspects of it…but the more nefarious parts require someone with demonic understanding…that we simply do not possess."

"And Dean does?" Sam spat out angrily. They'd all but called his brother a piece of hell-spawn.

Gabriel's eyes shifted and he shook his head. "He is hell-spawn, Sam. But he is also part of my brother…which means there is something good in there too."

"Don't do that." Sam said coldly.

"What? Read your mind?" He groaned and blew out an exasperated breath. "But you take too long to simply say what you're thinking." Gabriel answered quickly.

"Fine…whatever. How do we save my brother?"

"We teach you some control and then we surprise them and take him back." Gabriel said simply. "Three days, Sam. That's all I need to show you enough control to help your brother."

"Who has him?" Sam wanted to know…now he _needed_ to know who was holding Dean while he was sitting around in demon training school.

The smaller angel shifted and then looked over at Castiel. His eyes softening as he realized that he was about to reveal something that the lesser angel wasn't privy to. "Michael…and Alistair."

Castiel's blue eyes widened in shock. "Michael?" He walked around and sank onto the bed nearest the wall. "He is working with Alistair?"

Gabriel swallowed thickly. It pained him that his brother's couldn't get along. They'd been fighting since the beginning of time and now they were about to involve every human being on earth in their grudge match. He'd found over the millenniums that he liked humans…they were interesting and they made their own choices…something that he valued. These little monkeys were worth saving. And he looked at the bond between these two humans specifically…they reminded Gabriel of the intense bond that connected him with his own brothers.

If Sam proved worthy…he had a shot at beating the devil. The only thing that could destroy that chance was if Sam learned what it would cost him to do it. Golden eyes shifted to blue and the angels nodded silently as he determined that it was not the time to tell Sam of the cost.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _We'll get into the actual rescue…and who's rescuing whom in the next chapter. Just wanted you guys to have something to read on Sunday. Thank you to all who reviewed and favorited. Hope you enjoy the newest chapter._

**Please Review: I have loved your opinions and suggestions. Please keep them coming.**


	13. Training Wheels and Brothers

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Previous Chapter:**

"We need his brother to train him, properly." Gabriel said as he leaned in closer to Sam, smiling when the larger man moved away from the unwanted attention. "Or else we need another demon."

That got Sam's attention. "What?" He could not have heard that correctly. There was no way that they _needed_ a demon in their lives.

"Your powers will grown, Sam." Castiel gestured between himself and his brother. "We can help you to control certain aspects of it…but the more nefarious parts require someone with demonic understanding…that we simply do not possess."

"And Dean does?" Sam spat out angrily. They'd all but called his brother a piece of hell-spawn.

Gabriel's eyes shifted and he shook his head. "He is hell-spawn, Sam. But he is also part of my brother…which means there is something good in there too."

"Don't do that." Sam said coldly.

"What? Read your mind?" He groaned and blew out an exasperated breath. "But you take too long to simply say what you're thinking." Gabriel answered quickly.

"Fine…whatever. How do we save my brother?"

"We teach you some control and then we surprise them and take him back." Gabriel said simply. "Three days, Sam. That's all I need to show you enough control to help your brother."

"Who has him?" Sam wanted to know…now he _needed_ to know who was holding Dean while he was sitting around in demon training school.

The smaller angel shifted and then looked over at Castiel. His eyes softening as he realized that he was about to reveal something that the lesser angel wasn't privy to. "Michael…and Alistair."

Castiel's blue eyes widened in shock. "Michael?" He walked around and sank onto the bed nearest the wall. "He is working with Alistair?"

Gabriel swallowed thickly. It pained him that his brother's couldn't get along. They'd been fighting since the beginning of time and now they were about to involve every human being on earth in their grudge match. He'd found over the millenniums that he liked humans…they were interesting and they made their own choices…something that he valued. These little monkeys were worth saving. And he looked at the bond between these two humans specifically…they reminded Gabriel of the intense bond that connected him with his own brothers.

If Sam proved worthy…he had a shot at beating the devil. The only thing that could destroy that chance was if Sam learned what it would cost him to do it. Golden eyes shifted to blue and the angels nodded silently as he determined that it was not the time to tell Sam of the cost.

XXXX

**Chapter 13**

_Training Wheels and Brothers_

Sam stared at the computer screen, his head pounding painfully as he searched for anything that might help him track down his brother's location. He was trying desperately to keep his fears at bay. He hadn't learned a lot of what Dean had gone through for him…mostly because Dean refused to tell him all of it. What he did know was terrifying and the idea that that white-eyed bastard had his claws on Dean again was horrifying. Sam would have done anything to save his brother from that.

"Should we tell him?" Gabriel asked as they walked away from the youngest Winchester. He actually liked these two knuckleheads. That was the reason that he'd tried to make Sam understand that he couldn't save his brother from Hell. Plus, if he was really honest with himself…he was still a little pissed that they'd gotten the best of him back in that college town. But he also didn't want them to suffer the massive failure that they were destined to. He turned toward his brother and waited as the warrior angel debated.

Castiel had always been more difficult to control than most angels. He had questioned when it wasn't his place, but that was why Gabriel had taken a keen interest in him. This little angel had had the _balls_ to question his older brothers, to seek his own path. He watched as Castiel finally shook his head. "No…I do not think so…not yet. He does not trust us, Gabriel and that would only add to his reasoning." His blue eyes flickered back to the young man; he was engrossed in something on the computer screen. He was still reeling from the news that his brother's had stooped so low as to begin working with the twisted and mangled souls of Hell. A part of him was disappointed that he hadn't seen this coming.

"Stop staring at me, Cas. What do I have to do to save Dean?" Sam's eyes lifted and he pinned the dark haired angel with a steely gaze.

Gabriel stepped forward and held out his hand to the human. "Take my hand, Sam." He instructed. There was reluctance in Sam's gaze as he glanced over at Castiel but finally reached out to touch the smaller man on the wrist.

Sam felt the nausea slam into his ribs and he doubled over as his feet landed on solid ground. He felt his knees turn to jelly and he found himself leaning over as he threw up his lunch. "I really wish you guys would warn me before you do that." He grumbled as he hauled himself upright and dragged his arm over his mouth. The dim headache that had been sitting behind his eyes all day intensified. He blinked slowly before glaring at the angel.

"The trick is to bend your knees more." Gabriel said as he started walking. Sam shook his head and fell into step behind him.

"I'll remember that." He groused as his eyes flitted around the area. They were standing on a solid rock formation, there didn't seem to be anyway to get on this precipice, other than doing some heavy duty climbing. A sudden wave of vertigo had Sam spreading his stance out and slowing his breathing.

"Why am at the top of the Devil's Tower?" Sam had seen this structure in a report he had to do in eighth grade on rock formations. Not to mention, Dean had made him watch Cliffhanger more times than he could count. The thought of his brother had him steadying his nerves and staring at the two angelic beings as he waited for instructions.

"Well, for one it's called the devil's tower, so where better to learn to control your demon bloodlust." Gabriel said as he wriggled his eyebrows. Castiel rolled his eyes but remained silent.

"Just fucking cut to the point." The words were spoken through clenched teeth as Sam turned and looked at the slowly setting sun. The blur of color was intoxicating as the reds and yellows ran together to create a beautiful orange that was breathtaking. Thoughts of his brother and what he might be going through pulled Sam from the moment and he twisted toward the archangel.

Gabriel shrugged. "Just trying to lighten the mood, jeeze. Take a chill pill, mom." He twisted and walked right up to Sam before pushing him toward the edge.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sam squeaked as he was caught off guard.

"Training." Gabriel shot back. There was no smile on his face and his eyes were cold as he continued to push Sam. The human tried to strike at him, which the angel immediately deflected. "You must learn that it is your mind that will fight…not your body."

"What the hell does that even mean?" Sam cried as he found himself far closer to the edge of the precipice than he was comfortable with.

"It means concentrate. See the wind and use it to help yourself." Castiel said.

"What?" Sam's voice broke as his heels reached the edge of the rock face and his momentum carried him over the edge. The next thing he knew he was falling, his stomach had shot up into his throat and he flailed as a scream of fear was ripped from his throat. The one thought that kept repeating itself was that he'd failed Dean.

XXXX

Awareness returned slowly and Dean groaned as his head ached with a nearly blinding white slicing pain. He shifted and Dean was surprised to find that he could move, even if it was a bit stiffly. The band around his mind extended and he clenched his teeth as the past few days came back in a rush of fire. But it was possible for him to focus slightly. Dean could feel the anger raging beneath his tenuous control. But if he was going to get out of here and save Sam he needed to keep a rein on his emotional turmoil. He swung his legs over the edge and that's when he noticed that there was definitely damage to the left knee. It hurt like he had a blessed blade shoved through the joint. He'd learned about those unfortunate knifes while he'd been in Hell and he hadn't forgotten those lessons. These bronze blades were nearly incapacitating for demons and he was no exception to that.

The only thing was that Dean hadn't thought that Alistair would've been able to get his grubby mitts on one of those up here. Apparently, he'd been wrong. His black-green eyes shifted down and he hissed when he saw the incision into the knee, the white of his kneecap shining through. Dean pulled in a long slow breath and then shifted off the table onto his right leg. He wasn't prepared when his left leg slid off the table and dropped uselessly next his right. The next sensation was his teeth biting through his lip and the blood dribbling down his chin. "Shit…" He gasped and leaned back against the rack as he struggled to get the pain under control. He'd honestly thought that he was done with this type of shit when he'd come back. The whole 'demon' thing seemed to indicate that he wouldn't suffer as he had as a human…he'd found that to be so totally false that it was bullshit as far as he was concerned.

Dean's right hand came up to grasp at the hole in his left side. He didn't have the power to heal himself yet. And the wound had been cause by one of those damn blades. He didn't have a shot in hell of healing it until he was stronger and that wasn't going to happen until he got the hell outta this place. That Michael character seemed to be the one calling the shots although without the use of both his and Sam's bodies the whole thing seemed pointless. The information that Dean had, suggested that it took the two of them because they were brothers…and apparently that it was a _bloodline_. _What-the-fuck-ever._ Dean thought as he inhaled and shoved at the band, it extended and he was able to reach out…looking for his brother's aura. Sam's aura left a trail of warm blues mixed with a deep purple. It wasn't Sam but at least it was where his brother had been last…and right now that was the best thing that Dean could hope for.

He blinked in frustration when he wasn't able to track exactly where Sam was. He could sense where he _had_ been…so Dean gathered what power he had access to and blinked slowly as he teleported. The grace was stronger than the demon side at the moment, the bronze blade had seen to that.

Alistair walked out the shadows and smiled before looking over at Zachariah. "He took the bait…stupid child."

"They always do." The angel said as he flickered out of the room.

XXXX

Sam was waiting to slam into the rocks that made up the base of the tower. His mind was preparing for the imminent outcome of this failed endeavor. Suddenly he was back on top of the tower, his hands and knees in firm contact with the stone. He was gasping as he flipped his hair out of his eyes and sank back onto his ass. Blue-green eyes rose to glare at both angels. "What the hell was that?" He panted.

"That's called training my boy." Gabriel said proudly.

"No. You tried to kill me, you little bastard." Sam seethed. If he died, who would help Dean? Certainly not either of these two douchebags.

"Now that's not a very nice thing to think about the guys trying to help you." The blonde man said as he circled around Sam and sank down into a crouched position. "You have to concentrate more."

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't. But you will. This isn't something that will come easy at first, but trust me, the first time you get it? Will get you an 'A' on all future tests." Golden eyes flashed to the Castiel who nodded his agreement.

"It is something that your mind will recognize once you establish a pathway." It was the first time that the angel had spoken. He unfolded his arms and stepped forward. "It would be easier to establish this path with your brother present. His mind has already connected in this way for him to use both the angel and demon power. A meld would have shown you the road. After that it is only necessary for you to practice." His words sank into Sam's brain and he narrowed his eyes in frustration. The idea of becoming that was less than human was terrifying, but if it was the only way to keep others from controlling him? It was worth it.

"Can we try again?" Sam asked.

XXXX

Dean stumbled as his leg gave out. He glanced around the small motel room, the essence of his little brother was everywhere. It was like watching a trail behind a jet…the colors of _Sam_ dissipating over time. But the mere fact that they were here at all told Dean that Sam had been here recently and that judging by his gear bag, he had every intention of returning. Dean locked his leg and then forced himself to ignore the pain as he limped over to the window. Somehow he knew that he wouldn't see his car in the parking lot, but a piece of him _hoped_ anyways. He sighed when he didn't see baby parked out front. Apparently wherever Sam had gone it had been by angel and not car.

He moved away and searched through the bag that Sam had left behind. Dean sank carefully onto the bed, he hurt everywhere and the band had snapped closed so he was feeling everything right now. He sent out the tiny tendrils of green healing energy he could afford to use. At least it was keeping the wound on his side from getting infected. He rifled through the duffel bag and licked his lips in anticipation when he felt his fingers close around a book. He swallowed and shifted back against the headboard laying the book across his thighs as he flipped through it.

The seal on the front marked it as one of Bobby's. Speaking of the old junk, Dean hoped that Sam had sent him after his car. He shook his head and hauled his thoughts back to the task at hand. Some of the text was in Enochian, which Sam wouldn't have understood…but Cas would've. Could they be helpful in hiding both himself and especially Sammy? Dean still wasn't a hundred percent sure how those damn angels had tracked him. But he was gonna make sure that shit didn't happen again.

A ringing of a cell phone had him setting the book aside and searching the room with his eyes. He finally saw the offending little machine on the counter in the small kitchen. He started to rise just as his body pulsed with pain and he sank back. Dean wondered what else his newfound knowledge could do. He pushed at the edges of his control again and felt the band slip back, it was a little easier every time he did it. He stared at the phone and reached out, the air shifted and he was able to see the weight of the small machine. How the molecules could be bent and then allow him to slide it along the waves of light. A moment later the ringing phone was sitting in his palm. Dean raised his eyebrow in appreciation of the powers he was learning to use. He didn't even glance at the caller id, he simply flicked the phone open.

"Hello?"

A gasp of surprise escaped his lips as he recognized Bobby's voice. "Dean?" The old man's gruff voice sprang from the small speaker.

"Dean? That you boy?"

"The one and only." Dean answered quickly. He looked over at the wall clock and thinned his lips when he realized that he'd been here for two hours and Sam still hadn't returned.

"But, Sam said you'd…" The old hunter gulped the rising emotions. He still didn't know how he felt about the return of the eldest Winchester. It wasn't that he didn't want the boy back…he did…more than anything…but it was still unclear what the cost of his return would be. "I thought the angels got'cha…"

"No…well, yes…but I'm back now." Dean paused. "Have you seen Sammy?"

"No. Just talked to kid on the phone. I went to get that car of yours…and then I was headed to meet with him tonight."

Dean cut him off immediately. "Is she okay? How bad is the damage?" He could barely get the words out without imagining the worst possible condition his baby could be in.

The response was so _Dean_ that Bobby was caught off guard. "Uh…it'll take some time and effort…unbend the frame and put in a new engine."

"Okay…" Dean was just starting to say something else when the flutter of wings broke up his thought processes and he looked up as not just one, but two angels appeared in the room. Castiel was helping to support Sam who was draped between them. His head had fallen forward and he was unconscious. Dean dropped the phone and thrust his own pain into the recesses of his mind as he lurched upright and tried to get to his brother. "Sam…" He whispered.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Thank you to those who have read and reviewed. I cannot explain how much that motivates me to continue. I tried to update all of my stories in the last week…I think I only have one left to meet that goal. This story is progressing nicely, please keep in mind as you read that this will flow in and out of known canon. So if things feel a little 'wonky' at times they will be addressed, but don't hesitate to ask about them if you would like to._

**Please Review: Please continue to let me know what you think.**


	14. Angels and Winchesters, not so Different

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 14**

_Angels and Winchesters, not so Different_

He didn't know if it was the fact that he'd been tortured with the bronze blade or if it was the presence of the angel grace that was making him feel almost human. But either way, Dean was grateful to not feel the pull of the cold hard rage as he watched his brother sleep. The two angels had gently laid Sam down and then stepped back as Dean fussed over his brother. There was a large bruise on Sam's face, covering the left half from his temple to his chin. But that seemed to be the only damage that Dean could see.

"Is this from the wreck or you asshats?" He asked in an icy voice.

Castiel held up a hand. "The car accident damaged your brother. We have not harmed him." He looked Dean directly in the eyes. "I would not harm Sam." He didn't know whether or not Dean believed him, but he hoped that at some point he would earn this hybrids trust. It was the only way that their plan would succeed.

"Who's your tiny friend?" Dean asked as he jerked his head in Gabriel's direction.

"Uh…I'm not that little…people. You guys are just _larger_ than life….name's Gabriel."

Castiel watched the hybrid narrow his eyes and then flicker his gaze over to the golden haired angel. "What the hell did you guys do to my brother?" Dean's voice was cold and void of any emotion, but his eyes were burning with the things he wasn't saying.

"Training." Gabriel said.

Dean blinked and then furrowed his eyebrows. "You can't train him."

The smaller angel stepped forward and all of the friendliness that had been there a moment ago vanished. "I am an archangel, you little rat…I can train any thing." He tilted his head to the side as he watched the hybrid pull in a shuddering breath and his eyes shifted from black-green to mostly black.

"You're one of those archangel dicks? What the hell is wrong you guys…somebody screw up when they made you? Forgot to give compassion or something?" Dean's eyes dropped and he smirked. "Can't find any pleasure anywhere else but at the expense of others?"

The smaller man straightened his back and then flashed forward, his forearm slamming into Dean's throat and pinning him against the headboard. "I've done things even you can't imagine…boy. Have a little respect." Gabriel whispered as his eyes flared between white and gold and he held the hybrid immobile.

Dean struggled, but his strength was sapped and both he and the angel knew it. His gaze flickered to Castiel and he was relieved when he saw the guy striding toward them, his hand coming to rest on his brother's shoulder in a plaintive gesture. "Gabriel, he has been through enough and this is not helping Sam."

The pressure on Dean's neck released and he sank into the pillows as he sucked in some air and rubbed at his sore neck.

There was an immediate shift in the smaller man's face and suddenly he was grinning like an idiot. "Sorry…. sometimes I just lose control. Low blood sugar."

The bruise was already forming on Dean's throat as he glared at the angel before looking over at Castiel. "How are the angel's tracking us?" He shifted and ground his teeth together as he was painfully reminded that he was still unable to heal himself. Cas stepped closer to him before Dean could protest he'd placed his palm against Dean's chest. The pain was instantaneous. It felt as though he'd been branded from the inside out. The ironic thing about that was, Dean actually _knew_ what that felt like. He wasn't quick enough to stop Castiel from placing his other hand Sam's chest. The sudden jolt of pain must have been more than Sam's unconscious mind could handle, because he arched and cried out in surprised pain.

"They are not tracking 'you'." Cas said simply as his eyes dropped to Sam. "But this will ensure they cannot figure out a way to start."

The movement from the bed drew and held Dean's attention as he ignored the comment for the moment.

"Sammy..." Dean said as he moved and then shot a glare at the angel. "You could've warned me."

"Would that have made it hurt any less?" The angel asked sincerely. Dean snorted at the totally serious question.

"No. But it's polite." He growled. Dean reached over and touched Sam's shoulder as his brother groaned his way back into consciousness.

"I am sorry. I was unaware of that human custom." The dark haired angel stepped away from the brothers.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and finally spoke up. "I gotta apologize for my brother. He's watched humans all these years, but he didn't really interact with any until you two."

"What'd he do to us?" Dean asked. His eyes flickered over worriedly to his brother's pinched face.

"I marked your ribs with Enochian symbols. Neither the demons nor the angels can track you now." Castiel said as he walked toward the window and parked there, staring out into the darkness.

"Yeah…it kinda felt like that." Sam muttered as he rolled his and eyes widened when he noticed his brother seated on the other bed. Dean looked like shit. He was a mass of bruises and bloody cuts; his side was saturated in blood. _Is he wearing my t-shirt_? Sam wondered as he recognized the grey shirt. "Dean…" He shifted and grimaced in pain as his head rebelled at the idea of moving too far. "How…did you escape?"

"I'm awesome. That's how…" Dean looked at the pain-wracked expression on his little brother's face and he felt his anger at the angels return. "I had to make sure these dicks were capable of taking care of you." He snorted. "Obviously they're not."

"Hey. I resent that." Gabriel said around the candy bar he was stuffing in his mouth. "We got him away before Alistair showed up…I think that's a pretty good start to babysitting duty."

It was Sam's turn to glare at the angel before speaking to Dean. "How'd you get away, Dean?" He asked again.

"I learned some new tricks." The hybrid turned to look at Castiel and the angel swallowed when he noticed that Dean's eyes were mostly green, the black had receded. He'd noticed that happening before the brother's had been split up. That the more Dean was around Sam the less his demon side seemed to be in control. The angel wondered what exactly that meant for the hybrids future.

Sam's eyes levered on his brother in concern. He allowed his gaze to wash over the hunched positioning of Dean's body. He swallowed hard when he saw the large red stain on Dean's side. Sam struggled up from his bed and moved to sit next to Dean. "What did that son of bitch do to you?" He whispered, his fingers aching to try and help his brother.

"Nothing that hasn't been done before." Dean said. He was uncomfortable with the way Sam was looking at him. Like he was a project for his little brother to focus on. He stretched away from the hand that was inching toward him…but the immediate flash of pain on Sam's face had him regretting that decision. "Look Sam…I can handle anything that those douchebags can throw at me." He thinned his lips before continuing. "But I won't let them hurt _you_."

Sam's mouth worked as he tried to come up with an answer to that. He was save as Gabriel stepped forward.

"I think these boys have some explaining to do…" He looked over at Castiel. "Why don't we go grab them some food…and grab me _a lot_ of food."

Castiel nodded and they were gone. Sam glanced around the suddenly silent room. It was the same as it had been when he'd left with the angel's earlier. But the presence of his brother was making it feel more like a home than Sam'd felt since Dean had died. The place even smelled different. "Can I ask you something?" Sam said quietly.

Dean looked over at him. "Of course you can."

"Promise not to lie to me?"

That made Dean narrow his eyes before answering. "I told you when I came back that I would never lie to you, Sammy."

"If I do this…learn to control this _thing_ inside me…what happens to you when we restore balance to this crazy universe?" He looked over and the emotions were nearly blinding as Dean stared at him.

"I don't know, Sam." He wasn't lying. Dean really didn't know what would happen to him when they reset the doors to heaven and Hell. He'd done things when he'd been in the pit that would never be forgiven…could never be forgiven. He knew that. But Sam's soul…that wasn't damaged to the point that he couldn't be saved…and Dean would do everything in his power to save his brother.

"What?" Sam turned and stared at his brother. That couldn't be true. Dean had to know what would happen to himself. Because Sam wouldn't risk losing him again…he couldn't. There was no way that he would survive that twice. _Hell, I barely survived it the first time._ He thought as the emotions built. He'd been a shell…Sam had cut himself off from the world and dealt with the loss of his only living family privately. "Dean, I'm not gonna risk closing anything until I know what that means for you." His voice stayed steady as he pushed all his insecurities and concerns into the pit of his stomach.

Dean thinned his lips before he spoke. "Sammy…we can end this." He shifted and Sam didn't miss the wince of pain as his body complained. "All of this. We can end it. No more demon deals…no more Hell." His emotions shifted from the concerned to angry. "Isn't that worth any price?"

Sam titled his head bit at his lower lip in frustration. "What if the price was _my_ life Dean?" He watched as his questioned slammed into his brother. Dean's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed as he shook his head.

"It isn't." He said simply. Dean heard his brother pull in a long slow breath before he spoke again.

"But, what if it was? Would you pay that price?" Sam knew he wasn't really being fair here. But he had no other way to get Dean to understand that he _would not_ pay for the gates of Hell with Dean's blood. He looked up and wished he hadn't as he watched the agony spread across Dean's face.

"No."

Sam huffed. "Then how can you ask me to?"

"We don't know that that'll be needed." Dean said quietly.

"And we don't _know_ that it won't." He shot back without thinking. Sam swallowed and then blinked a few times as his head spun. Dean started to shift off his own bed, his hands coming to hold at his side as he did. Sam's gaze flashed over and he held his hand out to stop him. A look of hurt splashed over the hybrid's face as he settled back against the headboard and wiped his emotions from his visage.

Sam had seen the wound. He inhaled and then shoved himself into a sitting position before slowly moving to cross the distance between them. He ignored Dean's protests as he threw back a couple aspirin and then grabbed the medical kit and sank down on the bed next to his brother. "Dean, we learn _everything_ there is to know about this spell and then…maybe we'll see about closing the gates of Hell."

Dean ground his teeth together. As much as he wanted to argue with Sam…and he did…he was being forced to admit that he would need to know the same thing if their positions were reversed. Life had never been about what Dean wanted…or needed. But for as long as he could remember, he'd always put Sammy first and if it came down to shutting down Hell or Sam? He'd chose Sam every time…no contest. He looked away as Sam reached in and gently pulled the grey t-shirt out of the way so he could see the injury to Dean's side. A small part of him wondered if he could just keep his involvement quiet…at least until Sam _had _to know.

"Jesus, Dean…" Sam hissed when he saw the damage. "What the hell did those bastards do to you?" Anger surged to the surface as Sam looked at the wound. It almost looked as though the damn demon had tried to carve the flesh from Dean's ribcage. And then, as if that hadn't been enough, Alistair appeared to have ripped at the pieces of flesh. There was a very light green glow criss-crossing the wound…like it was holding it together. Sam's blue-green eyes flashed up and his eyebrows cut downward. "Is that…Dean are you healing yourself?" He said in wonder.

"Yeah…It'd be cooler if I could do it right." He said with a wince as Sam dabbed at the blood.

"What d'ya mean?" Sam asked. He set the soaked gauze pad aside and reached for another as he internally applauded his big brother's resilient nature. Dean had always had the power to recover from whatever life threw at him…at least until Sam had died in Cold Oak, North Dakota. That had been the thing that had _broken_ Dean. Guilt was always pushing at the back of his heart when he thought of that one decision on his part and what it had cost his brother. He hadn't been able or willing to kill Jake that night and their family had been paying for that decision ever since.

"Would you?" Gabriel's voice cut into the silence and had Sam accidentally pushing harder than he'd meant to.

Dean sucked in a pained breath and threw an angry glare in the angel's direction. "Thought you two were out getting food?" His eyes jumped between the two men. "No pie? That's it…no tip for you."

The archangel ignored the comment and stepped closer to Sam. "Would you have killed Jake that night? Knowing what you know now?" His gold gaze shifted between Sam and Dean.

Dean's jaw worked as he watched his brother consider the question. "Sam's not a killer." He said evenly. The black had ebbed back into his eyes and the green receded somewhat as he shot an angry look at the angel. That was an unfair question to ask.

Sam sat back and looked into the slowly blackening eyes of his brother and then clenched his jaw as he turned to stare coldly at the man behind him. "If I knew it would've saved my brother a trip to Hell? If I have known that it would have kept Dean from being torn into for a hundred years but a sadistic son of bitch? No question." Sam's voice had dropped and there wasn't a hint of the kindness that usually permeated his tone. He sounded like a cold blooded killer."

"Sam…" Dean said.

Blue-green eyes shot in his direction and he shook his head. "No Dean. I should've killed him that night…you would have." Sam watched as slowly the green seeped back into his brother's black eyes and then he nodded.

"Okay, Sammy." He didn't know what to say to that. Of course, he would have killed Jake…that was just who Dean was. He knew he was a killer. Although, to be fair…he didn't generally kill humans, but in that case he would have made an exception. The kid had been had picked to lead the armies of Hell…there wouldn't have been another choice for him. But Sam there had always been another choice. So Dean kept quiet and watched as his brother finished cleaning up the wound and then bandaging it before moving onto the other various injuries.

The angels milled around the room. Castiel had set a large bag of tacos on the small table and a couple of sodas, which Dean was eyeing hungrily as he impatiently waited for Sam to finish. The dark haired man pulled out a chair and sat down as he too waited. Dean's gaze shifted and he saw the expression of the angel change. "What aren't you telling us, Cas?" He asked as he slowly moved away from Sam to get a better view.

"Gabriel and I…we were informed that Michael is on Earth." He said evenly.

Sam's eyes blew wide in surprise, but Dean simply shrugged. "Old news guys. I already knew that."

Castiel drew his eyebrows together before standing up and running his hand through his dark hair. It was a very human action and it made Sam wonder if the angel was picking up more than just patterns of speech. Gabriel stepped forward and pulled a small scroll from his coat pocket.

"Dean, you don't get it. My older brother…he shouldn't have been able to _Lazarus_ your half brother. That is a power that is only granted by God…and he doesn't just hand that kind of mojo over."

"So what does that mean? Wait…half brother?" Sam asked. A slight headache was starting to burn behind his eyes; he blinked several times and waited for the smaller man to finish.

Gabriel snorted derisively. "Yeah, yeah…you have a half brother, welcome to the club. It means, my simple ones…that Michael got his hands on a tablet of resurrection…and those were supposed to have been destroyed after Lazarus." His golden eyes shifted to Castiel and he seemed to silently ask a question before pushing forward. "There was one other tablet that was written…and that was for you, Dean."

It was Dean's turn to stare at the angel in surprise. "Me? But I wasn't resurrected…I clawed my way outta Hell…didn't have any help."

"The mark on your shoulder…" Gabriel started. Castiel stepped up and put his hand up to silence his brother.

"Dean…" The angel swallowed hard and then allowed his blue gaze to shift between Sam and Dean as he explained. "I was the one that gripped you and tight and pulled you from perdition. My power left a brand on your soul…that is why you have the hand mark. I was meant to get to you earlier, but by the time we knew what Alistair and Lilith had planned for you…it was too late to save you…you had already climbed down off the rack and I was too late to save you from becoming a demon." He watched as the information sank into Dean and the hybrid's mouth opened and closed a few times, but he didn't say anything. "That is why Zachariah came…and why it was necessary for him to share Michael's grace with you. Without it…your soul would have been lost…so too would your body."

"So…I get to be damned to an eternity of Hell because you missed your scheduled appointment? That seems a bit unfair." He said in an icy voice. "And it appears we're back to the body-snatching thing, huh?" Dean growled.

Sam listened quietly. He tried to stay somewhat objective, but that was a little difficult when he heard that Dean was supposed to be saved by angels and they hadn't even been able to get that right.

"I wouldn't bitch too loudly son. You're a super cool combination of angels and demons…how's that a step backwards." Gabriel said with a raised eyebrow. "You would've been just another hunter that no body gave a damn about…instead you and Sam are unique."

Dean shook his head in disgust. "Awesome." He ground out. "What's that mean?"

The shorter man shrugged. "It mean's that you need to start being the least bit grateful that Castiel still came after your ass. He could've just left you rotting on the rack in Hell…or worse, learning at the feet of Alistair. It wouldn't have taken long and Sam would not have recognized you."

"Gabriel…stop." Cas finally interrupted. "This is not helping us." He looked over at Dean. "I wanted you to know the truth, Dean."

"So now we what?" Sam asked.

Dean turned and leveled a stony look on his brother. "Now? We take the fight to them. Get that spell from…" That was when he noticed the scroll in the angel's hand. "Is that it?"

Castiel nodded.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _The boys are learning the truth and the angels are learning that they can trust the Winchesters with information. See where this alliance takes them as we move forward and Sam meets his half brother for the first time._

**Please Review: Please…it only a takes a moment of your time.**


	15. Lacus Curtius

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

_**Previous Chapter:**_

It was Dean's turn to stare at the angel in surprise. "Me? But I wasn't resurrected…I clawed my way outta Hell…didn't have any help."

"The mark on your shoulder…" Gabriel started. Castiel stepped up and put his hand up to silence his brother.

"Dean…" The angel swallowed hard and then allowed his blue gaze to shift between Sam and Dean as he explained. "I was the one that gripped you and tight and pulled you from perdition. My power left a brand on your soul…that is why you have the hand mark. I was meant to get to you earlier, but by the time we knew what Alistair and Lilith had planned for you…it was too late to save you…you had already climbed down off the rack and I was too late to save you from becoming a demon." He watched as the information sank into Dean and the hybrid's mouth opened and closed a few times, but he didn't say anything. "That is why Zachariah came…and why it was necessary for him to share Michael's grace with you. Without it…your soul would have been lost…so too would your body."

"So…I get to be damned to an eternity of Hell because you missed your scheduled appointment? That seems a bit unfair." He said in an icy voice. "And it appears we're back to the body-snatching thing, huh?" Dean growled.

Sam listened quietly. He tried to stay somewhat objective, but that was a little difficult when he heard that Dean was supposed to be saved by angels and they hadn't even been able to get that right.

"I wouldn't bitch too loudly son. You're a super cool combination of angels and demons…how's that a step backwards." Gabriel said with a raised eyebrow. "You would've been just another hunter that no body gave a damn about…instead you and Sam are unique."

Dean shook his head in disgust. "Awesome." He ground out. "What's that mean?"

The shorter man shrugged. "It mean's that you need to start being the least bit grateful that Castiel still came after your ass. He could've just left you rotting on the rack in Hell…or worse, learning at the feet of Alistair. It wouldn't have taken long and Sam would not have recognized you."

"Gabriel…stop." Cas finally interrupted. "This is not helping us." He looked over at Dean. "I wanted you to know the truth, Dean."

"So now we what?" Sam asked.

Dean turned and leveled a stony look on his brother. "Now? We take the fight to them. Get that spell from…" That was when he noticed the scroll in the angel's hand. "Is that it?"

Castiel nodded.

XXXX

**Chapter 15**

_Lacus Curtius_

Castiel stood on the creaking metal balcony of the small dingy motel. The soft breeze was pulling gently at his dark hair and flipping the bottom edges of his coat against his calves. His fingers were wrapped protectively around the small papyrus scroll, the mahogany center gleaming in the light. The paper felt dry and scratchy, the organic materials used in its making thousands of years ago felt nothing like todays smooth bleached copier paper. His blue eyes were tracking the setting sun as the brilliant hues of blood red mixed with the deep oranges of impending night. His eyelids dropped closed and he inhaled the scent of an approaching storm. The rain always seemed to be preceded by a pleasant mixture of moisture and an unidentifiable ozone smell that was unique to his father's creation…Earth. For more years than he cared to remember he'd watched humanity, particularly the Winchesters and their kin.

A flash of light off to his right pulled his gaze in that direction and he smiled at the raw power of his father's creation. This little world and its infinite wonders never failed to hold him in awe. The male voices drifting from inside of the room were buzzing in the back of his head as he inhaled again and lifted the scroll. The writing appeared in silver as he unrolled it in the last rays of the setting sun. It was the only time of day the words could be read. At any other time they were indecipherable…even to an angel of the lord. The door opened and closed quickly behind him and Castiel didn't bother turning around, he knew that it'd be Gabriel.

"So?" His brother asked as he settled next to Castiel's immobile form.

"So, what?" Castiel answered as he stared at the words.

Gabriel sucked in an irritated breath and slugged Cas in the arm. "So…is that 'it'?" The angels had been searching for the scroll of _Lacus Curtius _for…well, since almost the dawn of time.

Before angels had been sent to watch over humanity, God created the _deity's _of the old world and it was their job to 'look out for humans'. Well, they hadn't done a very good job; _probably why God fired them and created angels, _many of the gods had determined that humans should _worship_ them instead. When the first demon had been created, due to the twisting of the first human soul, the scroll had been written and then hidden for all time and eternity. At least until a being was born, or created, that could control the power hidden within the ancient words.

This scroll was the only record of the power that could close down the gates of Hell. It would take a _being_ of enormous power and this being had to walk into the gate, causing the arch to collapse…forever. There was no account as to whether or not the being would survive the attempt. Never in the history of mankind had a human existed that was similar to either Sam or Dean Winchester. The question was…_which one of the brothers would actually have the power to collapse the devils arch?_

Zachariah had led Dean to believe that it would be Sam…but that was probably a rouse to get the human to say 'yes' to Michael's grace. If Michael could possess the human form of the hybrid and have access to the scroll? He could control the gates of both heaven and shut down Hell…and there would be no one strong enough to oppose him…not even Lucifer.

"Look for yourself." Castiel handed the scroll to the archangel and watched as he whistled his appreciation at the silver words.

"How long do we have to…" Gabriel hadn't even finished the sentence when the light faded and the words reverted to unreadable text. "Shit…" He glared at the useless scroll and then looked up at his brother. "Cas…that isn't much time to decipher that mass of crap." He tossed the scroll at the taller angel and turned to go back inside as the first raindrops began to fall.

Castiel pulled one last breath of fresh air before turning and following his brother back into the small room.

XXXX

Dean was seated on the back edge of the tub, his eyes staring at the pinkish hue to the water as it rushed down the drain. The metallic smell of his own blood wasn't making him feel all that great…funny; he hadn't thought that demons could get nauseated. But it appeared as though he was wrong. The rolling march of his stomach was making him swallow repeatedly and he leaned his head back against the plastic of the small bathroom wall. He slid down into the tub and let the hot water cascade over his head and down his chest. The wound on his side stinging painfully as the bandage soaked through. The lack of use in his left leg was still worrisome as was the fact that he_ still _couldn't heal himself.

Wet fingers pulled at the slowly loosening tape and he pulled the gauze from his side and tossed the sopping red mess onto the tile floor. The loud 'plopping' sound as it hit the ground barely registering as he tried to get a better look at damage. "Damn-it" He groaned when he couldn't see it clearly.

Dean reached out and grabbed his duffel bag, inside it was his shaving kit and that meant there would be a small mirror as well. The zipper stuck and he dropped his head onto his chest in frustration…a thought occurred to him and he furrowed his eyebrows as he pictured the mirror and then infused it with his desire to hold it. A moment later he was feeling a bit clever when it appeared, perfectly balanced, on his opened palm. The relief was short-lived when his side twitched painfully and he remembered what he'd been doing.

The reflection was every bit as disturbing as he'd thought it'd be. Alistair had taken the same loving care as he'd sliced into Dean this time as he had in Hell. The hole was nearly the size of Dean's palm and he could clearly see the sinew of muscle between the ribs…and then there was the hole. That bastard had dug that damn bronze blade in between the floating rib and the bottom attached rib.

"Dean?" Sam's voice was a bit muffled, but Dean could definitely hear the concern in his brother's tone. He knocked a couple of times and waited for an answer. When one wasn't immediately forthcoming, Sam knocked again. "Hey…Dean? You okay?"

Dean blinked a few times and then bit at his lower lip as he forced his abused body up into a standing position. He winced as he shifted his balance to his right leg and leaned heavily against the wall. "Yeah…Sam…I'm good." He said slowly. He waited for second until he heard the hesitant footsteps move away from the door. A sudden wave of dizziness nearly sent him crashing back to the porcelain of the tub. He searched for any reserves to try and heal his wounded flesh. The band around his mind expanded and a sudden influx of energy came from _somewhere_…he wasn't sure where. But it gave him the strength to keep his body upright and even some extra so that he could start to really _heal_ himself.

Sam watched the bathroom door like a hawk. His brother had been in there for too long, the injuries, even an all-powerful hybrid, which he was dealing with, were extreme in nature. And Sam was worried…beyond worried, he was scared.

There was a constant 'buzz' in the back of his head when he was near Dean. Like something was connecting them, but when they were separated it was like it had been when his brother had died…complete and utter _silence_ in his mind. For as long as he could remember, Sam had been able to connect with Dean through this unusual 'feeling'. Not that Dean knew a damn thing about it… and now that his brother was back and _different,_ which didn't even begin to describe what Dean was, that feeling was back tenfold.

He sank down onto the bed when his energy level dropped suddenly and he felt physically exhausted…like he hadn't slept in a week. _Well, it's been more like three days, but still._ Sam thought as he lay back against the fluffy pillows. The sudden leaden feeling to his eyelids caught him off guard and Sam was helpless to stop them as they dropped shut and knew no more.

Gabriel watched with interest as the first 'connection' was made between the brothers. The invisible, well invisible to humans, flow of green that was traveling along the light waves into the bathroom was beautiful. It'd been a long time since he'd seen someone learn to control the bridges and power of light and energy. The only thing that was throwing him a bit off was that it was _Dean_ that was learning to control the power and not Sam. That didn't fit the profile of the 'boy king'. He glanced over at Castiel, who was staring at the television like an idiot; his brother obviously hadn't noticed a thing.

Once they got Dean healed up and Sam in a better spot, they should be able to establish the needed to connection between the brothers to officially start training Sam…and it looked like…Dean as well.

XXXX

The sweat was rolling down Sam's neck. He could feel the space between his shoulder blades that was creating the perfect pathway as the stress and heat of the Arizona desert seeped into every pore. The heat was burning his lungs as the dust threatened to choke the oxygen from his lungs. "Try again." Dean's voice cut through the haze of red and Sam forced his eyes open. His brother's nearly green eyes were watching him carefully, but there was no other emotion reflected in his expression.

"I'm trying, but I can't seem to find the right path." Sam slumped as his energy started to wan. He was exhausted to his very core, they'd been at this for nearly a week now and he still couldn't identify which stream of light demon energy travelled along and which stream angel grace used. Whenever he _synced _up with Dean's energy he could easily identify which was which, but as soon as his brother pulled his consciousness away, Sam was lost.

Deans eyes darkened and the black seeped back in as he turned toward Castiel. He wasn't dealing with that dick of an archangel any more than he absolutely had to. "He needs sleep, Cas." He'd sat back and watched these _angels_ push his little brother to the brink of collapse for the last week. And there was no for Dean to help Sam make this connection. He'd showed his little brother the pathway, but it was up to Sam to align his understanding with what he'd been shown. If he could have crawled inside Sam's head then he might have been able to make the connection for him.

That thought sparked an idea, but it was something that he needed to talk to Cas about, because Dean couldn't do it on his own. The spells in place would prevent him from doing it and then he would need to convince Sam. His gaze drifted back to where his brother was seated in the red dirt, his legs pulled up and his arms draped over his knees. Dean knew that Sam was beginning to really trust him, but asking him to let _Dean inside his head_? That might be more than Sam was ready for.

The angel turned and furrowed his eyebrows before shifting his gaze to the Sam. He was barely on his feet and the kid definitely wasn't focusing; they would need to do something drastic to get him over this little _hump_. He looked over at Gabriel waiting for an acknowledgement of what they both knew had to happen. A slight raise to the archangel's eyebrow told Castiel all he needed to know. They would be pushing Sam to a potential breaking point and by proxy they would be forcing Dean's hand as well. And that was where this whole plan could get tricky. Neither of them had told the hybrid about the contents of the scroll. All that the Winchesters knew was that it was taking time to decipher the words since they were only visible a few minutes every day at sunset.

And when Dean found out? That wasn't going to pretty and it could lose what little ground Castiel had managed to make with the hybrid. Sam was the key to shutting down the gate, but Dean was the key to locking it forever.

Gabriel wandered over to him and watched the brothers as Dean helped Sam to his feet. "Tomorrow?" He didn't need to finish the thought, he knew his brother already knew what was needed. The dark head bobbed and Gabriel inhaled. "You know what this is going to do to Dean, right?"

Castiel turned ice blue eyes Gabriel. "I do." He allowed his gaze to flicker back to the Winchesters for a moment before continuing. "It is not how I would have chosen to proceed, but we are out of time." He held up the scroll. "The eclipse is three days away and Michael is amassing an army. If we do not act now…we will not be able to stop him…or his plan."

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _This is starting to take shape as the brothers struggle to learn about their new powers and the angels struggle with their rebellion against heaven. Actions will speak louder than words and that all pops off in the next chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing._

**Please Review: I would like your thoughts on the twists.**


	16. The Push

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 16**

_The Push_

The numbness had never gone away. Whatever Alistair had done to him it seemed to be a bit on the permanent side. It wasn't that he couldn't walk…far from it. But Dean definitely had a pronounced limp that was obnoxious as hell. Plus, he couldn't get Sam to stop looking at him with _sympathy…fucking sympathy_ in his worried eyes. The training session the previous day hadn't gone well. Sam wasn't picking up control of his powers like he should be. Dean felt like he was leading a horse to water and then trying to _make_ it drink. And the angels were losing patience…especially Gabriel…Cas seemed willing to let Sam figure it out on his own.

The changes were subtle, but Dean was noticing them. His other injuries were healing, finally, and Dean felt like he and Sam might actually be okay. He knew that simply being around his little brother was affecting him in a positive way; he could feel the power building up within him. So in true Dean Winchester style, he continued to push at the elastic boundaries of his mind and he was starting to notice his control was increasing at an exponential rate. His understanding of the light and the sheer power it represented was astonishing as he learned to differentiate between the colors and how demonic energy and angelic grace travelled. The actual _manipulation_ of those energies…well, that was a whole different thing. He'd always wondered how it was that a demon could pin them against a wall, taking away their ability to even think about moving, with nothing more than a look. Well, now Dean knew…light could be bent, like a piece of tape or string. But it was stronger than Wolverines adamantium claws when it was released.

Dean seemed to have an affinity for controlling the demonic power, although that wasn't so surprising since he knew that his time on the rack had turned his soul into something twisted and dark not to mention seriously tainted. It hadn't seemed so bad when he'd first gotten outta Hell…apparently with the help of a damn angel. But now he understood what his choice to save Sam had cost, the game pieces he'd set into motion. Potentially a game that would lead to the end of the world as they knew it. The fact that _God _had seen fit to send an _angel_ to Hell in order to try and rescue him _before_ he gave in to weakness and temptation couldn't be a good thing.

And while he didn't fully trust Cas yet, he didn't think that the guy had it out for either him or Sam. Dean would take full responsibility for the choices he'd made, both the one that got him sent directly to Hell, _do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars,_ and the one that had gotten him yanked back out.

But he'd made that first choice to save Sam…and he would make the same call a hundred times over if it meant bringing Sammy back. Those hours spent in the presence of his brother's lifeless corpse had been the worst of his life. Watching Sam's skin change color as the blood cooled and settled in his veins. Seeing the way his muscles stiffened as rigamortis set in. The worst had been when he'd realized that he'd never have to fold under the pressure of Sam's 'puppy dog look' or see the 'bitch faces' that his brother was so famous for. That had been a moment that had truly _broken_ Dean. As he'd sat next to the stained mattress and tore open his soul, telling Sam things he'd held onto for twenty-three years…Dean finally knew exactly what he'd lost when Sam's heart had stopped…leaving only silence and desolation. He'd lost his reason for fighting…for living…he'd lost himself.

The age-old rage at Jake and Azazel came pounding back to the surface and he felt his mood darken violently and suddenly all he could see were the darkest parts of the prism of light. It was the rays that his darkest powers travelled along and the one that would have scared him the most, if he could even feel that emotion anymore. The deep purples and the dark almost black shades of blue and green were pulsing with his emotions. He pulled his thoughts back from the brink of Hell and focused on breathing slowly.

The bed was a bit on the lumpy side and it wasn't making it any easier for Dean to fall asleep. The wound on his side was uncomfortable and he'd finally given up on the idea of sleep and hauled himself upright. Dean swung his long legs over the edge of the bed and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and his face in the palms of his hands. He inhaled slowly and then wrinkled his nose at the smell of four men sharing the same small motel. His toes were digging into the shabby carpet as he pushed against the scratchy threads. The pain in his side was bearable, but by no means was it comfortable…and contrary to popular belief, hybrid angel-demon-_things_…needed to sleep.

Sam's sheets rustled as he turned over and Dean looked up to see his brother's breathing even back out as he drifted deeper into slumber.

"Dean?" Castiel whispered. He wanted to talk to the eldest Winchester...alone. This was't something that Sam needed to know about. Gabriel was putting together how to push Sam into instinctively using his powers. But he'd told Castiel that he hadn't come up with a brilliant plan as of yet. So it seemed like this was a good time to bring Dean up to speed on the scroll.

Dean's gaze flashed in the direction of the small kitchen. The angel was seated at the table watching the Winchesters. _He's been watching us sleep again…that's so creepy._ The thought passed through Dean's head as he stood up and grabbed a jacket slipping his bare feet into his work boots before he pointed at the door. The angel nodded and quietly followed him out onto the silent balcony.

"What is it, Cas?" He asked as he pulled the jacket shut. It seemed odd to him that after all the changes that had happened to him…he was still physically affected by the cold. His leg whined at the change in temperature and he leaned heavily against the rail.

"We need to talk." The angel looked out at the darkened parking lot and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on the edge of the black metal railing.

The hybrid watched the body language and quickly decided that he didn't like what he was seeing. This wasn't the overly confident warrior that Dean had come to know over the last few weeks. "What's going on Cas?"

The angel bit at his lower lip and then turned so he was facing Dean. "I have to be quick. I'm not sure when my brother will return."

"Is this something I'm not supposed to know? Because we're a little old for slumber party secrets." Dean snarked as he mirrored Castiel's previous position.

Blue eyes bored into Dean and he found himself feeling slightly uncomfortable with the intensity of the angels gaze. "Okay, if you don't stop staring at me like that, I'm gonna insist you buy me dinner." He knew the reference would confuse the angel, but _damn_…keep the inquisition style gazes to a minimum.

"I do not understand that reference." Castiel said.

Dean almost laughed at the completely confused look on the other man's face as he struggled to understand the comment. Something about the way he connected with Castiel made him want to trust the angel. Maybe it was the whole 'rescue' thing…maybe it was something else, he really didn't know. But as he glanced toward the room he caught sight of Gabriel and that made him clench his teeth. While he trusted Cas, he didn't trust the archangel. That guy seemed to have his own agenda and that wasn't sitting well with Dean. He'd never liked being outta the loop, but when it involved Sam? It just wasn't acceptable.

"Cas?" Dean asked. The angel turned toward him and raised an eyebrow. "That scroll you two were talking about…there's something in there you don't want to talk about isn't there." It wasn't really a question, so much as an affirmation of what Dean was already sure of. He'd seen the way the two angels looked at him and Sam…and it wasn't in a 'hey I wanna be besties for the rest of our lives' kinda way. It was more like 'Let's decide what side dish goes better with Winchester stew'. And Dean so wasn't okay with being served up on a silver platter to appease the universe.

"The scroll contains a spell explaining how to shut the gates of Hell." Castiel answered simply. The hybrid turned more toward him and searched his blue eyes for meaning. "This spell is like nothing else in the known world, it was written by a scribe of God as a contingency plan in case Lucifer gained too much power."

"Okay…so what does it say, exactly?" Dean wasn't sure how badly he really wanted to know. Not with the way Cas was refusing to even look at him. He reached out and pushed at the angel's shoulder. "Cas…what does it say?" He repeated when the answer wasn't quick enough. He was struggling with the demonic side today, his anger rising easily to the surface and refusing to be shoved back into its cage.

"Apparently it will take both you and your brother to slam the door. But…we have not been able to determine which of you has the actual _power_ to collapse the devil's arch." That got Dean's attention in a way that nothing else could have. He shifted and blinked as the potential of that statement sent his mind racing.

A truck roaring down a silent street caught his attention and he turned briefly while gathering his thoughts. "The devil's arch? So there's more than one step to this spell? Cas…I knew what my chances were at walking away from this…but…" An image of Sam sitting at the kitchen table and reading one of a thousand books flashed through his mind. "…What are Sam's chances?"

The angel swallowed and then thinned his pale lips before turning to look the hybrid directly in the multi-colored eyes. "Yes, it will take both of you and no, I do not know what his chances are." A look of intensity slid over the hybrids face and had Castiel tilting his head to the side as he tried to interpret the human emotion.

That statement set off every internal _big brother _alarm that Dean was born with. "Then find out." He wouldn't be responsible for his brother's death…not again. He'd already lost Sam when he hadn't insisted that they find out exactly _what_ had been going on with that whole 'shining thing' three years ago. When Sam's visions had started he'd been so scared that he'd lose Sam that it had been easier to kinda pretend like the whole thing didn't exist. Because Dean wasn't capable of accepting that there might be something _dark_ inside of Sam. If he'd pressed his brother or…hell, even his father for more information then Sam might not have been snatched by Azazel. He wouldn't be making that mistake again.

"I will dig deeper." The angel's rough voice was even and he sounded sincere, but it didn't alleviate the concern rattling around inside Dean's head. He wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight.

XXXX

Sam sat in his office. This case was taking a toll on both him and his fiancé. He'd only agreed to take it when he'd found out who the defendant was. A young woman who claimed to have been _possessed_. The evidence was stacked against her, but as he'd researched the case all the signs were there. He leaned back against the leather chair and sighed as he wondered for the millionth time where his brother was at?

After leaving to attend Law School, Sam hadn't talked to his brother other than one time, when Dean had come to his apartment and asked him to help look for their father. It couldn't have come at a worse time. Sam had been in the middle of interviews for acceptance into Stanford's prestigious Law School…and he couldn't leave. He supposed, looking back, that he might've been able to take off for the weekend and still have made it back on Monday. But this was everything he'd ever wanted. And it was all riding on this one conversation with the panel…he _needed_ to focus on that.

He knew that he'd hurt Dean. His older brother had nodded violently and grabbed his things, stomping out the rickety front door. It had slammed with a _finality_ that his younger brother hadn't understood at the time. Sam had watched from the balcony of his shared apartment as Dean threw open the door of his beloved Impala and crawled inside…alone. The familiar sound of the engine firing up had made Sam's heart ache, but he stayed rooted to his spot as Dean peeled away from the curb. A slow thrum that had been burning in the back of his head for weeks eased and he turned to walk back inside.

Sam had figured that he could call Dean in a day or two and resolve the messy way they'd left things that night. _He'd been wrong._ His brother had changed his phone number and Sam had no clue where he'd gone. To be fair, he _had _searched for Dean…at least he'd tried to get his brother's new number. But one thing that their father had drilled into them was how to cover their tracks and Dean had learned that lesson incredibly well.

That had been more than five years ago.

Sam leaned his elbows on the large metal desk and then sighed as he realized that he had no clue if either Dean _or his father_ were alive. It weighed heavily on this day in particular. Today was Dean's birthday, January 24th. His blue-green gaze drifted to the calendar hanging on the wall, a gift from Jessica. The beautiful beach, with its white sands and clear blue water had been her first pick for their honeymoon. He smiled as he thought of the fiery blonde nurse that he'd been with for almost six years. They'd been engaged for five of those years, but she'd insisted that he finish law school before they got married. He'd reluctantly agreed. Sam wasn't sure that he would've made it without her support over the years. Jessica was an amazing woman.

He shook his head and reached down to grab his briefcase, intent on heading home. His office line started ringing and Sam reached over to grab it. "Belson, Shader, and Jones." He named off the name of the partnership he worked for.

"Is this Sam Winchester?" A female voice asked.

Something about her tone put Sam on his toes immediately. "Yes." He wasn't willing to give any more information than that as he waited for her to explain the phone call.

"My name is Cameron Anderson and I'm a nurse at Providence Memorial hospital." She paused for a moment before continuing and Sam's breath caught. "Do you have a brother named…Dean?"

And there it was…the other shoe. "Yeah…yeah I do." A slow ache in his chest had him leaning forward and twisting to try and find a comfortable position. "What's going on? Is he okay?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "Uh…I'm sorry to be calling you like this, but I'm afraid he's ill…very ill. I would have contacted you earlier, but he said he didn't have any family."

_That _hurt worse than any wound Sam had ever had. His brother had actually told people that he didn't have any family out there…_what the hell, Dean._ He scrubbed a hand through his dark hair and pushed his chair out with the backs of his knees. "Is he…gonna be okay?"

"I really think that's a conversation for you and the doctor. But, I wanted him to have someone here…" Her words drifted off and Sam moved to the window looking out at the setting sun.

"I'm on my way." He said after she gave him the address. It was only five hours from where he and Jessica had settled down. This entire time, he and Dean had only been five hours apart.

The drive was torture. He hadn't been able to get any additional information out of the nurse. All she would tell him was that Dean was sick. Something about giving bad news over the phone being against hospital policy. _So…it's bad news then?_ The idea played over and over inside his head as he drove.

Sam made it to the hospital in four and half hours; he'd probably broken nearly every traffic law on the books before he'd pulled into the parking lot. He'd called Jessica and explained where he was headed and why. She'd been understandably worried, the last time that Sam had had contact with Dean had led to months of depression. But she understood and let him go. She had asked if he wanted her to get someone to cover her shift so she could go with him. But Sam didn't even know what was happening with Dean, he didn't want to pull Jess away from her job at this point…not yet.

He rushed through the automatic doors and got directions to Dean's assigned room. It was in the ICU ward…that's not a great place to start. Sam thought worriedly as he waited for the elevator.

The door of room 634 loomed large in front of Sam as he walked the last few steps and tried to mentally prepare himself for what he'd find inside. As he stepped through that door, he realized that nothing he could have done would have prepared him for what he saw.

The room was darkened. Only one small light flared in the corner near a reclining chair. The sterile feeling to room made Sam want to vomit. No flowers, no 'get well soon' cards…nothing. Just a body lying against the stark white of a hospital bed. He stepped forward and sucked in a shaky breath when he got a good look at his brother.

Dean didn't look anything like the strong vibrant hunter Sam remembered. His face was disfigured, scars littered his exposed skin. The blanket was pushed down to his waist and his chest was covered in bandages and stitches. But the worst realization was that Dean looked _weak._ His body was thinner than Sam could ever remember seeing him, not even when he'd been young and going through growth spurts had he looked so thin. His eyes were sunken and there were dark shadows surrounding Dean's normally jovial eyes. Dark eyelashes rested against the pale skin and his breathing was hitched with a wheeze that scared Sam.

His gaze scanned the rest of the bed and he had to look away when he saw that his brother wasn't as tall as he should be. Below his knees, both legs had been amputated. _Oh my god, Dean…what happened to you?_ The thoughts drifted through his mind and he found that his throat was closing off with unexpressed emotions and his eyes were burning with tears.

Something must have warned Dean that he was being watched, because he twitched and then his bruised eyelids slid open. His green gaze slid around the room and he finally stopped on a figure standing in the darkness. Part of him hoped like hell that it was a reaper, come to take him away from this existence…if that's what his life could be called. He swallowed hard and then blinked slowly as the blurry figure came into sharp focus. _That can't be right._

"Sam?" He asked slowly. Dean's entire soul rebelled at the idea that _now…now_ his brother had shown up to help him. Where had Sam been when Dean had _needed_ him? Where had his brother been when the demon had snatched up Dean and their father…? Memories of the last three years assaulted Dean. He'd been held by that son of bitch for so long that he'd started to wonder if the inside of that small room was the last thing he'd ever see. After the demon had killed John…it had been only Dean. At night he'd dream of Sam…that his brother was out there looking for him. That as soon as he realized that he couldn't contact Dean, he'd have moved heaven and hell to find out what happened to his big brother. But looking at the expensive suit and the guilty expression plastered on Sam's face told Dean that he hadn't looked.

"Yeah…Dean, it's me." Sam said as he hesitantly moved forward.

"Why're you here, Sam?" Dean asked as he turned away from his brother's worried eyes. He'd thought that whenever he saw Sam again, he'd feel…something. But all Dean felt was angry and bitter.

"What?" Sam asked as he sank into the chair next to Dean's bed. He wanted desperately to pull his big brother into a hug. To say that he was sorry that he'd lost touch and that it had never been what he'd wanted. But the words died like ash on his tongue. He'd gotten exactly what he'd wanted…a normal life. While his brother had been out there hunting things alone and apparently Dean had needed the back up.

"Why now?" Dean forced past parched lips. The pain was lacing through his body like a snake slithering along a highway. He knew that he didn't have much time left…yellow eyes had told him he didn't have long. That's the only reason he'd been let go…he was going to die. He gulped down his fear at what would happen after that. Three years of torture could change a person. And Dean _had_ changed. The deal he'd made to get outta that small room…he was terrified of what came next. But none of that was as horrifying as being forced to sit here and deal with his little brother.

When they'd been younger, he'd thought that he could count on Sam in a way that he couldn't count on anyone else in the entire world. After that night in Palo Alto, he knew better. Sam only wanted him around when it was convenient…and it hadn't been _convenient_ that night.

He had eventually tacked down his father and he'd convinced the stubborn John Winchester to let him help as they'd hunted down the demon. John had eventually told him about the blood and what could mean for Sam. That had solidified it in Dean's mind. _They had to kill this son of bitch before he got his hooks any deeper into Sam._ But neither of the Winchesters had anticipated the level to which this demon would go to bring on the apocalypse.

Yellow eyes had managed to get them to an abandoned cabin that would begin the single most horrific years of Dean's life. He now knew exactly how much _pain_ the human body could withstand. John had died within the first year, but not Dean. No he'd managed to make it for more than three before the demon had gotten tired of him and offered him a deal…a way out.

All Dean had ever wanted was to have Sam by his side hunting. But once he'd learned the truth, he'd known that Sam had made the right choice all those years ago…and that didn't make it any easier. He supposed that he should have seen this coming. But to be honest? He hadn't.

"Are you serious…why now?" Sam asked quietly. His eyes were still washing over Dean in guilt and his older brother wanted to wipe that look off his face. Sam was barely holding onto the emotions that threatened to spill out into the dark hospital room.

"You made your choice, Sam." He groaned as a particularly painful pulse lanced through his body and he shifted. And that was when he remembered that they'd taken his legs. The infection in the broken bones had been too severe. The doctors had had to remove the gangrenous flesh and bone.

"I just want to help, Dean. I never wanted to lose you." The words were breathy and he kept rubbing at his eyes like something was stuck in them.

"Who asked for your help?" Dean knew he was being unfair. It wasn't Sam's fault that he'd walked into a trap and hadn't been able to get back out again. But lying here in this hospital bed with an uncertain future ahead of him, he found he couldn't filter his thoughts anymore.

"No one…no one had to ask. I would've been here sooner if I'd known." Sam looked up at his broken older brother through the fringe of his bangs and sighed. "Dean…I thought you'd come back…"

That did it. That broke what little resolve Dean had left. He was so tired. He was tired of fighting and he felt his body let go.

Sam watched horrified as his brother's eyes rolled back in his head and the monitors whined in a long steady beep. He scrambled to his feet and barely made it out of the way before the doctors and nurses descended on the room like avenging angels. Sam slid his 6'4 frame into a corner and watched with terrified eyes as the medical staff struggled to save his brother's life. They hadn't resolved anything. Dean couldn't die, not now…Sam had just found him again.

Something pulled at the back of his mind, like a distant memory of something that should have happened. A sudden flash of blinding pain had him crashing to his knees and his hands grasping at his head. Images invaded his mind and he cried out as they tore at his control. He could feel hands grabbing his shoulder as someone shook him. But he was caught up in the loop of pain and imagery. Dean and his father in a cabin…somewhere. A man that looked like typical janitor sauntering around them, the glow of his yellow eyes making Sam sick. He vomited and fell forward as the agony increased and he felt like ice picks were being shoved into his brain.

He watched as the demon broke and re-broke his older brother's legs. The moment his father had died as the demon had literally pressed him against a wall until his body had imploded. The rage that was now coursing through his body was only eclipsed by the sudden control Sam could feel inside his head. He wanted to find and kill that son of a bitch…he wanted to kill every demon in the entire world. A scream from his brother pulled his attention back to the scene. The demon grabbed a knife etched with runes and sliced into Dean. The pain in the cry was unlike anything that Sam had ever witnessed. And the scene was repeated over and over again for what seemed like years. The rational part of Sam's brain understood that it very well could have been years.

The sounds of baying pulled Sam's attention again and he turned his head only to see the most terrifying thing imaginable. A hound that was nearly five feet tall, with slime dripping from razor sharp teeth and claws that were nearly six inches in length was standing in the doorway. The crimson eyes were focused on Dean.

Sam panicked. He grabbed onto the unfamiliar burning inside his mind and flung it at the beast. It screamed in pain and turned raging red eyes on him instead. A slash of black now marred the hairless flesh of its head and the sound of the angry agonized howl that echoed through Dean's hospital room made Sam's skin crawl. Again he felt that twinge at the back of his mind and he latched on and once again pulled with all his might and thrust it forward. A tickle just below his nose alerted him to the nosebleed. But his eyes stayed trained on the beast as it exploded in a billion pieces of flesh and pink mist.

At some point the nurses and hospital staff had abandoned the room and Sam found himself struggling to his feet as the pain in his head receded. He stumbled forward and his heart lurched in panic when he saw Dean's opened, yet unseeing eyes. The line was still flat on the heart-rate monitor and his brother's skin was a pale grey color.

"No…Dean…come on…" He gulped and reached up, pressing his fingers into the grove beneath Dean's chin…nothing. No thump or steady thrum of life beneath his fingertips. "Oh god…" Sam choked out as he sank to his knees next to his brother's body. The darkness in the room pressed in on him and Sam felt the tears that had been burning fall. He didn't try to stop the onslaught of loss and fear as it bubbled over.

A voice pulled his attention as his grief stained his face. "I can help you kill them all…all you have to say is, yes.

Sam turned red-rimmed eyes in the direction of the man's words. "What?"

A man stood in his room. The guy was blonde with piercing blue eyes and a simple presence that didn't set off any warning bells in Sam's head. Maybe it would have if he hadn't been sitting next his brother's corpse. "I can help you find and kill the demon that stole your brother's soul." Now that got Sam's attention.

"What do you mean… 'Stole his soul'? What the hell does that mean?!" Sam still had yet to pull himself off the floor. But that couldn't be true. Dean couldn't have gone to hell...he refused to believe that a demon had gotten his claws that deeply into Dean's mind.

The guy gestured to the deceased beast on the floor. "Hellhound. It was here for your brother's soul…I can pull him out and give him back to you? Just like he was before…all you have to say is yes."

Sam's grief-stricken gaze flashed to Dean's body. He'd never thought that when he and Jessica had moved to just outside Detroit he'd be hauled back into hunting. But this thing lying on the floor and the vision of yellow eyes torturing his big brother and smashing his father to death? It was all the incentive Sam needed to say 'yes'.

He gulped down his guilt and hauled himself to his feet. He towered over the blonde man by a good five inches. "A hellhound? You can save my brother?" Sam wasn't thinking straight and he knew that Dean would kick his ass for this. But he didn't care. He just needed his brother back.

"All I need to hear from you is…yes."

"Yes."

XXXX

Sam slammed back into himself in an instant; his memories still vividly clear of what it felt like to lose Dean…again. Those images mixed with the ones of the hellhound ripping his brother apart in Indiana a year ago and he struggled to control the ball of emotion trying to choke him. He rolled onto his side and stared at the empty bed next to him. Gabriel sat on the chair staring at him. His golden eyes calm and calculating as he watched the youngest Winchester return to himself with a new understanding of how his powers worked.

"DEAN?!" Sam called into the night.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _He needed the push. The angels said they were going to 'push' Sam…but now they're going to have to deal with Dean. Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed the previous chapter. Much appreciated._

**Please Review: It just takes a moment and I want to know what you think of my 'push' here.**


	17. Absolute Power

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Previous Chapter:**

A man stood in his room. The guy was blonde with piercing blue eyes and a simple presence that didn't set off any warning bells in Sam's head. Maybe it would have if he hadn't been sitting next his brother's corpse. "I can help you find and kill the demon that stole your brother's soul." Now that got Sam's attention.

"What do you mean… 'Stole his soul'?" Sam still had yet to pull himself off the floor.

The guy gestured to the deceased beast on the floor. "Hellhound. It was here for your brother's soul…I can pull him out and give him back to you? Just like he was before…all you have to say is yes."

Sam's grief-stricken gaze flashed to Dean's body. He'd never thought that when he and Jessica had moved to just outside Detroit he'd be hauled back into hunting. But this thing lying on the floor and the vision of yellow eyes torturing his big brother and smashing his father to death? It was all the incentive Sam needed to say 'yes'.

He gulped down his guilt and hauled himself to his feet. He towered over the blonde man by a good five inches. "A hellhound? You can save my brother?" Sam wasn't thinking straight and he knew that Dean would kick his ass for this. But he didn't care. He just needed his brother back.

"All I need to hear from you is…yes."

"Yes."

XXXX

Sam slammed back into himself in an instant; his memories still vividly clear of what it felt like to lose Dean…again. Those images mixed with the ones of the hellhound ripping his brother apart in Indiana a year ago and he struggled to control the ball of emotion trying to choke him. He rolled onto his side and stared at the empty bed next to him. Gabriel sat on the chair staring at him. His golden eyes calm and calculating as he watched the youngest Winchester return to himself with a new understanding of how his powers worked.

"DEAN?!" Sam called into the night.

**Chapter 17**

_Absolute Power_

Sam still didn't understand what had just happened. He'd come to himself in a moment of freezing numbness that had encased his body in an icy blanket of needles. Every aspect of his form was affected by a million pinpricks of pain as he tried to force his leaden eyelids open. The dull yellow light was dripping from every angle of the small room. Sam tried to force his mouth to call out, but no sound emerged, just a dry choking sound that was painful to his own ears. The numbness had seeped into every nerve ending and he was just floating as his mind reorganized itself.

He'd said 'yes' to something…but it had all been inside of a dream? _Hadn't it?_ He took a moment to internally take stock and he was relieved when he didn't feel _anything_ crawling around inside his head like a parasite.

He didn't care if he never drank another perfect latte. Or if he never felt the soft brush of a woman's hair across his naked chest again…he was in pain and he just wanted it to stop. If that meant death? He would take it over the smarting pain of fiery nerve endings.

A brilliant flash of white light had shoved him out of the dream and back into himself…and reality. There was a strange smell inside the room, like brimstone or something. His stomach clenched painfully as his head split open. His vision was dimming systematically and his heart pounded as he remembered the glimpse of a possible future. The memories of this _future_ were draped in a thick haze of fear and pain, making it nearly impossible for Sam to separate what he thought had happened from what had actually happened in the dream.

"That's what could still happen, Sam." The words make no sense. Sam studied them, attempting to attach meaning and understanding in various ways. He felt disoriented as he struggled to come up with an appropriate response. The only one that came to mind was a call for 'help'.

"Dean!" The sound of his brother's name was ripped from his throat as he tried to remember where he was.

XXXX

The panicked quality in Sam's voice had Dean crashing back into the room. Sam's face was blank other than his surprised stare. He watched as the rising sun painted a glow of light around the silhouette of his brother. The spikey blonde hair almost looking like a halo of light as he pressed through the opened door. The contrast of shadow and light had Sam gasping in surprise as Dean moved quickly into the room, his body slowly drifting into the darkness. His black-green eyes were searching for an immediate threat in a quick sweep through the small motel room. When nothing out of the ordinary caught his attention he limped over and sank down next to Sam. The mattress was typical of a cheap motel…lumpy and uncomfortable. His brother was staring blankly at the archangel in the kitchen.

"Sammy?" Dean asked and then turned to the only other person in the room. "What did you do?" He growled. He had followed Sam's gaze and glared at the unrepentant angel. Dean didn't wait for a response; his gaze cut back to his brother and gently pushed Sam until he was lying against the headboard. The exhaustion evident as his muscles relaxed at the tangible evidence of Dean's presence.

Castiel inhaled and moved to sit on the unoccupied bed near the bathroom. _This should be fun._ He thought. He'd seen Gabriel toy with other supernatural beings, the Gods most notably…but he'd never seen anyone go after the archangel like Dean was starting to. Anger was driving the hybrid, not rationale.

"What? He needed the push." Gabriel said innocently.

Sam's eyes were huge and he was starting to shake as he shifted away from the anger now radiating off his big brother. He couldn't get the image of Dean dying out of his head. His brother missing his legs and laying in a hospital bed, his body emaciated to the point of death. And then there were the sounds…the sounds of the hellhounds crying out, as they'd come for Dean. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. He looked…completely lost

"What the fuck! Who told _you _to push him? Sammy?" Dean ground out through clenched teeth. The look on his face promised death as he turned back toward the angel.

"I didn't hurt him. Just _educated_ him a bit." Gabriel said. There was no remorse in his voice as he sucked at a giant grape Slurpee.

A primal growl worked its way up and out of Dean's chest. He lurched to his feet, his pain forgotten. The intension was crystal clear as he threw his barriers away from his mind and lashed out at the angel. Gabriel's body was suddenly still as the muscles went rigid and pain echoed in his eyes. Castiel stared in shocked silence for a moment longer than he might have normally…he'd never been so caught off guard by another being. His brother was an _archangel_ for cripes sake! Dean shouldn't be able to affect him…at all. But looking at the face of the smaller golden-eyed man told Cas, that Dean _had_ affected him…and painfully so. Gabriel was gonna be pissed when he was released from whatever Dean was doing.

The hybrid's eyes glazed and the green disappeared as the obsidian color took over. He continued to pull the net of his power tighter around the blonde man. The light obeying him from every abstract angle as the darker colors twisted and collided around the angel. Strengthening into something that only Dean could break.

Sam only watched for a moment before he was trying to stop his brother. It wasn't that he didn't think that the angel deserved it…he did! Bastard had shoved Sam into some kind of supernatural mind-meld where he'd basically killed off Dean sending him to Hell! But Sam couldn't watch what this was _doing_ to Dean. What it was costing his brother to use these powers. The slight bit of humanity that Dean had gained was washing away in one instant. "Dean!" Sam called desperately, his own vast network of power pushing outward and weaving seamlessly into Dean's, inserting the light back into the pattern of darkness.

Somewhere in the maelstrom of anger blowing throughout Dean he heard his brother's call. The fear and the pain brought him back from the brink of oblivion. His pupils focused and emerald green seeped back into his gaze as he shifted his eyes from Gabriel to Sam's worried expression.

His eyes shifted and slammed into Castiel's blue gaze.

"Did you know about this?" Dean's voice dropped dangerously and there was an icy edge to it that made Castiel glad that he _hadn't_ known how far his brother would take this. He _liked_ Dean and he wanted to remain in the good graces of both the brothers.

He shook his head, but remained silent.

"Come on Sam." Dean said as he stood and gathered what few possessions he had and started toward the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gabriel ground out through clenched teeth; his muscles bunching and coiling as he picked the reigns of control back up. His eyes were narrowed angrily and he was holding his head as if in pain. He hadn't expected Dean to have that kind of power. His golden eyes flickered over toward his little brother. He flinched internally when he saw the angel looking over at the brothers in sympathy. They were _all_ gonna lose, if Sam and Dean didn't play ball…not just the angels…but all of mankind.

"You think I'm gonna let you have another crack at my brother after the shit you just pulled?" Dean didn't even turn around as he grabbed his duffel and started for the door. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

Gabriel grunted and his voice had lost any fake pleasantry as he growled out. "Look…you can't defeat Michael without us…and we can't close down Hell without you…so…just…hang around a little longer and then go charging off into the sunset like some swashbuckling hero." He wasn't any happier about working with the hybrid at this point than Dean was about working with him. Frankly, he didn't like the idea of being around a being that could _pin_ him down. Archangel's didn't have too many enemies of equal power…but Dean Winchester had just made that short, if illustrious list.

"I ain't the hero in this story…" Dean said softly. His multi-colored eyes flickered to Sam for a moment. "…I'm the villain." The thought was finished without consent as Dean spoke his thoughts outloud.

Sam's eyes widened in shock. He pulled his sore body off the bed and moved to his brother. "That's not true, Dean."

"Yeah…it is." The conversation had started out in a dark place and it was only getting the darker the longer they talked.

He didn't believe…refused to believe that his older brother, demon or not, could be anything but a hero in the story of their lives. Hell, he'd gone downstairs to save Sam's own life.

"If you're done with the brotherly bonding moment?" Gabriel griped as he grabbed his slurpee and started drinking the sugary ice water again. Golden eyes flickered to Sam and he raised an eyebrow. "Can you feel it, Sam?"

Sam just stared at the archangel in silence. Because he _could_ feel it. The shift in his head, he wasn't a hundred percent that he could control it, but at least now he felt the power. It was sitting like a bucket above a well, just waiting for him to lower it and scoop up the silvery liquid. Truthfully? It was unlike anything that Sam had ever felt. His indecisive eyes lifted and connected with Dean's vacant black stare.

He knew that the angel had done some thing that he hadn't been able to. Gabriel had forced Sam to tap into some primal part of himself that instinctively knew how to control the power coursing through his body. Dean knew that Sam was feeling the effects as he listed to the side and finally sank back onto the bed, dropping his duffel near the wall. "Yeah…I can."

"And?" Gabriel pressed.

"And I feel pretty…good."

Dean swallowed and then walked to the refrigerator, grabbing a beer and popping the top off easily as he leaned against the counter. "What does it look like, Sam?" His voice was distant, like he was saying these things to himself. If his brother could answer this, then he would know how to proceed with training. The type of power that Sam was working with was different than what Dean was tapping into. But the concept of learning to control power…well that was the same across the board. He'd worked for decades to understand what was on the other side of the impenetrable wall of control.

"Like ripples in time…I can see a kaleidoscope of silver's and gold's. Like they blend into the fabric of space and time…" Sam's words drifted off as he was drawn into the images he was painting.

Both angels stared at one another in surprise. The power that Sam was talking about was the power to end worlds. He shouldn't have access to that…he shouldn't even be able to see its existence. But if the brothers could combine the two levels of power they were seeing, then they were a self-fulfilling prophecy. The brothers could close up Hell…for good. A rumble of light and a sudden ringing of sound sent the four men to their knees. The sound was somehow inside their heads…Dean's hands were clasped over his ears in pain.

Blood pounded inside Sam's head and he forced his eyes toward his brother. Crimson liquid dripped from his ears and Sam gulped back the fear that was clouding his vision. A moment later the sound faded and each of the men was left staring deafly at one another and in the center of the room stood a man.

"Lucifer…" Gabriel gasped out as he was forced to his knees in a submissive gesture that he obviously had no control over.

"Little brother…you've been busy." Blue eyes scanned the room and landed on Sam's hunched form. "I've been looking for you." He stepped forward and Dean surged to his feet. The intention was clear, he was planning on inserting himself between his little brother and the blonde man staring hungrily at Sam's body.

"How're you out?" Gabriel forced through immobile lips.

"Well, let's just say that I had some help from another member of the Winchester family." He grinned and waved at the door. The wooden material flying apart at the atomic level.

Sam's eyes blew wide when he finally recognized the man strolling casually through the hole. His gaze flew to his brother and he saw remnants of an emotion there, that frankly, he didn't even think Dean possessed any more…fear. But layered under the far was a defiant power that scared the shit out of Sam. He'd only just learned to find his power and now they were being presented with the ultimate evil. But that wasn't what had his brother looking like an orphaned child...it was the figure that had stepped into the room after the fallen angel.

"Welcome to the eleventh hour boys." Lucifer chuckled.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed. We're down to the eleventh hour of this story, don't worry I think I'll be turning this into a 'verse' and there will be more ahead. The brothers are going to have to deal with this new foe…one that they'd never suspected and then there's Michael and he's definitely_ coming to the party…and bringing some friends. Lots of action in the next chapter.

**Please Review: It lets me know you're still interested in where this is heading.**


	18. Know thy Enemy

**Synopsis**_**:**__ Sam Winchester buried his brother on a Saturday. Exactly one year later he returns to the grave and finds it recently excavated. The area surrounding it is blown apart like a bomb went off; the body is nowhere to be found._

_Dean is offered two choices, say yes to Michael in heaven or say yes to Alistair in hell. What if, in true Dean Winchester fashion, he said yes to both? What happens when a human plays both sides of the table? What will he become? And will Dean be the same person that sacrificed himself for his brother? What is the penalty for someone that screws over both Heaven and Hell?_

**Legalities:**_ Supernatural belongs to Kripke Enterprises and the CW. I am not making any money off this, I simply playing in the brilliant sandbox that Kripke created when he thought of the Winchesters and their supernatural world._

_**NO SLASH**__. This is set in an off-shoot of canon and is ultimately based in an alternate universe. __Brotherly moments only__. Rated-T for violence and mild-language. I will post updates on Mondays, unless I get an enormous response in which case I may post earlier._

**The angst is a little high for Sam in this chapter, but it'll settle down as he accepts Dean back into his life. Just wanted you guys to know.**

_* I am adding this little caveat, I have taken inspiration for the start of this story from reading other fantastic writers and their amazing stories, but I have my own plans. 'There is nothing new under sun' is a popular sane in my line of work. That said, my own story is veering off in another direction that has nothing to do with anything that I have read up to this point. If readers are wondering if this is a re-telling of another story...it is not. Any inspiration ended with the ability of Sam to see Dean as he was after hell. I loved the idea and ran with it, just as many of us do on this site. Sometimes inspiration strikes as a result of reading and studying the writing styles of those we would like to emulate. Anyways, there was no way for me to answer that question, so here is my answer. Enjoy the rest of the story. :)_

**Please excuse any grammatical errors, I do not have a beta on this project...all errors are mine.**

**Chapter 17**

_Know thy Enemy_

An entire childhood made itself known on the face of the hybrid. The moment a four-year-old boy had lost his innocence and become something more. The image of him taking the tiny body of his brother and folding him into his small arms while turning to his father for direction. "Take your brother and go. Go, Dean! And don't look back!" His brilliant green eyes reflecting the duty and the passion with which he had taken on that responsibility. It was a duty he'd never relinquished not even in death. Even the twisted thing that his soul was now knew that he was responsible for Sammy. But as Dean stared wide-eyed at the man standing in their doorway he wanted nothing more than to grab his brother and run like hell. Because whatever they'd done to bring _him_ back? It wasn't going to bode well for Sam.

"This is your 'hail mary play'?" Dean's hand gestured toward the man staring intently at both brothers. He shoved down his initial reaction and allowed all the rage and anger he'd been controlling for that last few months to rush unchecked to the surface. Dean's face darkened and his eyes flashed obsidian black as he squashed the angelic side of himself. He was going to need his demonic side and the rage and violence that came with that. He felt the power build in his blood and Dean carefully harnessed it, setting it aside for the near future. His gaze flickered over toward his brother and he saw the same shocked expression on Sam's face. But there was something else there, just beneath the surface…fear and resentment.

Castiel struggled to his feet and attempted to move closer to Sam. HE knew that he wasn't going to be allowed near the hybrid. Dean wouldn't allow anyone near him at the moment, but Sam. Castiel was instantly restrained by the unseen power of his big brother. "Ah ah ah…Cassy boy…stay where I put you." Lucifer was watching the changes rolling through both brothers with a sick kind of pleasure. He'd been waiting to spring this fun little surprise on the Winchesters for months. He'd only needed the opening…and his stupid younger brother had given it to him, hook line and sinker, when he'd sent Sam on that little _journey_ into a possible future.

The man's salt and pepper hair along with his blue-green eyes were familiar. Eyes that looked exactly like Sam's, stared the boys in appreciation. "I never thought you'd fall this low, Dean." The rasp in his voice was a sound that Dean had never thought he'd hear again. "I mean, I knew you were a fuck up…but damn boy. A demon? That's one hell of an oops." The shift in the older man's tone touched something primal inside of Dean and he found he couldn't meet the other man's heated gaze. "You realize if you'd just played your part? I would've been spared." His eyebrows rose and he glared at the hybrid with an icy stare that was freezing Dean's will. "So thanks for dragging me back into this shitty fight." The other figure finally spoke the words that could break the oldest Winchester son…and the words were devastating. The blue-green eyes shifted and then liquefied into a glossy black gaze that continued to swing between the brothers. "But then again, you never could just let things ride could you, Dean? Always had to push one last step past the finish line."

Dean swallowed his response and looked down. Every awful thought he'd ever had about himself, every single appalling thing he'd ever considered about himself flowed freely from the mouth of his father. "Dad…" He whispered.

Sam was desperately searching for some part of his father that might have survived Hell. Dean had…was it really that hard to believe that his father could have been strong enough to also? "I thought…in Wyoming…" Sam uttered quietly.

His father's black gaze swept back toward him. "You thought what?" He growled. "That I escaped Hell that night?" The eyes shifted to Dean and he started laughing. It was the single worst thing Sam had ever heard, outside of the gurgling sounds Dean had made as he lay dying. "You saw what they wanted you to see, Sam."

Dean flinched and he looked over at Castiel for confirmation. The angel wouldn't meet his gaze and he felt his self-loathing hit a new low. A slow whine started outside the room and increased exponentially until Dean was driven to his knees. His injured hip prickling with agonizing fire as he landed hard on the floor. He watched with dismay as Sam was sent to his knees as well, his hands covering his ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise. The room lit up in brilliant white light. It only last a moment before the motel dropped back into the low light of the day. And two more figures strolled through the door. "Brother."

"Michael." Lucifer said in a clipped tone as he stepped around Gabriel's stunned form.

"You are working together?" Castiel asked.

Dean wanted to smack the angel. Of course the motherfuckers were working together. They both wanted to take over the world. Have some sort of big time rock-em-sock-em robot war and earth was their battleground. His eyes ghosted over the angel and landed on his little brother. Sam's eyes were wide and he was staring at the figures like they were about to rip his soul outta his body and snatch it up for their own purposes.

The sight of his brother shrinking back from their father and the other angels broke what little bit of control Dean had. He wrapped his mind around the powers he'd learned to control and then cast a glance at Castiel. He tried to warn the lesser angel that he was about to throw down with the big boys, but Cas's eyes were glued to his brothers. As the gathering forces swelled within him, Dean forced his gaze toward his brother. Some how Sam had managed to draw his attention away from the angels and the demon version of his father and he was watching Dean. The light that was gathering inside of the hybrid was so visible to _him_ that he wondered how it was that the other beings in the room couldn't see it. He didn't know what it meant, but looking at Dean's face? Sam knew that his brother was about to let loose with a maelstrom of energy.

He nodded slightly and then smiled. Just the barest hint of a smile, one that only his brother would see. Dean bobbed his own head, showing Sam that he understood before flashing his eyes toward the five men standing in their midst. He grabbed onto the lighter colors, despite the power of the dark stripes in the prism, and threw them like a spear at Lucifer and Michael.

Both angels stumbled under the unexpected onslaught of pain. Sam chose that moment to shift and that drew his father's attention. The demon flew at him like lightning. His face a twisted mass of rage, his hands stretched out like claws. For a moment Sam was able to see the perverse version of his dad's soul. He'd thought that Dean's was bad? But his brother had kept some form of the soul he'd been born with. But their father? There was nothing left of the man they'd both grown up with. Hell had burned that part of John Winchester away years ago. At least Sam thought that was what he was seeing. Because there was something about the man that was unfamiliar…

"You son of a bitch!" Michael roared when he realized where the power had come from. He stretched out his own considerable resources and began unraveling Dean's world. He started with his sight, Dean nearly collapsed under the onslaught of pain. It was like having his eyes plucked out by rats. _And I know what that feels like._ He thought. The burning inside his skull was like a branding iron being swirled around and around.

"Argh…" Dean cried as he slumped forward, catching himself on his right hand.

"Stop!" Sam cried and surged to his feet. He grabbed onto the black lines of power and braided them together before throwing them at Lucifer and Michael. He was satisfied for a moment when he realized that his aim had hit its mark. But only for a moment before something slammed into his side, sending him crashing out the window. The broken glass piercing his side as he landed in a heap on the metal balcony in mass of tangled limbs and pain.

"NO!" Dean cried. He crawled forward just in time to catch Michaels foot across his chin. His head snapped to the side and his arm gave out sending him colliding to the threadbare carpet. He could hear Sam's rapid breaths as he struggled outside the room. Another pair of arms wrapped painfully through his and hauled him to his feet.

"Dean, Dean, Dean…" Lucifer said as he walked up to the fallen hybrid. "You've been a pain in the ass for a long time…but I think we can change your tune." He reached in and watched as Dean's cheek jumped as the rage built inside the man. "I wonder how much torture Sam's body can take before it gives out?" He said. The black eye flashed and a growl rumbled up from deep inside Dean's chest.

"You're not gonna touch him." The words were soft, but the promise buried beneath them had the fallen angel straightening his back in irritation. Dean leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, some of the green filtered back in as he reached out for the light again.

"No...I don't think so Dean. Fool me once…" Lucifer said as his wrist slammed forward and he watched as Dean's head snapped to the side.

"Don't damage my vessel, or I'll destroy yours." Michael said. His blue eyes flashing over to the hybrid in a chilling version of a human glare. He motioned to Zachariah and the angel walked out onto the balcony hauling Sam to his feet. He ignored the gasp of pain as the glass in Sam's side shifted, cutting deeper into the muscled side. The angel reached down, grabbing onto the shard before looking pointedly at Dean and ripping the six-inch, jagged piece from his brother.

Lucifer watched with indifference. "I'll just bring him back. Do your worst brother." He shrugged and reached behind himself and pulled a chair around as he straddled it. The blue eyes sparking with anticipation. Michael's eyes narrowed and he shook his head.

Sam's body arched and he panted as a fiery agony jetted through him and his blue-green eyes searched for his brother. The angel threw him to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut. Their father stepped forward and squatted down where the angel had thrown the limp form of his youngest son. He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the boys chin hauling his face so that Dean had a clear view. "Pathetic." He said before pinching harder, leaving obvious bruises on the soft skin of Sam's face. He thrust the boy's head away from him in disgust before he stood up and walked back toward the door. "I'll see you boys in Hell."

Dean watched in silence, an anger that was bone deep raging inside him as he struggled against the combined power of the archangel and the fallen angel. He could feel his shoulders starting pull from their sockets and continued to struggle. He heard something clang to the floor behind him and suddenly he was free. He dropped to all fours before pulling his body toward his little brother. The fear at the condition Sam was in was the only thing keeping him from loosing it and going bat-shit crazy on all of the angel douchebags. The demon he could handle. Father or not…that son of bitch had hurt Sam…so he was fucked as far as Dean was concerned.

It happened in a moment. No a _fraction of a moment_…Castiel stumbled forward just as Gabriel stabbed at Lucifer with an angel-blade. He missed the heart but he succeeded in causing the fallen angel to grab at his shoulder in pain. Gabriel watched as his brother looked at him in betrayal before he disappeared. Castiel had simultaneously drove his blade up through Zachariah's chin. The red stained tip popping up through the top of his head like some sort of birthday hat. The white light of an angel dying lit up the room and Michael realized that he was out numbered now. He hadn't become the general of the armies of heaven by coincidence, he knew when to press his attack and when to retreat, regroup, and attack again.

He looked into the multi-faceted eyes of the hybrid and growled. "This isn't over. I'll be taking back what is mine, Winchester."

"Oh yeah? And what's that asshat?" Dean snarked.

Michael raised an eyebrow and then narrowed his eyes. "My body and my grace." And then he was gone. The two angels were left staring at the large blackened wings that extended across their room. Neither of them looked okay. Castiel looked like he was gonna be sick and Gabriel just looked stunned.

"I was here first asshole." Dean mumbled.

He pulled his powers back into himself before he hauled his painful body toward his brother. The blood had pooled beneath Sam and his face was turned in the other direction. His breathing was rapid and hitching as he struggled through the ache of his wound. "Sammy?" Dean asked quietly as he slipped up and gently pulled his brother into his back, wincing as Sam's moan of pain. "I'm sorry…you okay?" He asked as he reached forward and his eyebrows cut down in sympathy. The wound was nasty looking. The edges jagged and torn as the blood flowed steadily onto the soaked floor. "Get me a towel, Cas." He called. A moment later a white bathroom towel appeared near his hand and Dean pressed it gently against the wound.

Sam flinched away from the pressure and whimpered.

Dean could feel his demonic side, slipping back as he stared at his little brother. The worry evident as he debated on how to deal with this. He finally settled on trying something new with his powers. He closed his eyes and grabbed onto the lightest part of the spectrum. The yellows and light oranges blending together and allowing him to lay what looked like a bandage over the gaping hole in Sam's side. Dean used the rays of light to gauge how to pull the edges of the ragged flesh together again. He was sweating before he'd managed to knit the edges together, stopping the flowing of blood. He'd searched inside the wound, looking for the broken blood vessels and the veins that had been severed. He'd knitted the muscles and the commanded the cells to reform.

Castiel stopped to watch as the hybrid-demon accomplished something that only full-blooded angels should be able to do. He healed the sick. Dean tapped into the vast energies that _were_ the universe and coerced the atoms to take their proper positions again. He watched as Dean finished closing the wound and sank back, exhausted.

"Did you know he could do that?" Gabriel asked as he stepped up next to Castiel.

"I did not." Castiel answered quietly. He held back the note of pride that he felt in his charge. Because whether or not he was responsible for what Dean had become, he was proud of the fact that the human hadn't lost himself in the pit. He'd managed to hang onto the most basic thing that made him…Dean…his love for his brother. What ever their brother's going to throw at them Castiel felt certain that between him, Gabriel, Sam and now Dean...they could handle it. But first, they had to seal that gate and they had return Lucifer to Hell. And then there was certain elder Winchester demon that needed to be dealt with. He looked back at where Dean continued to hold Sam's head in his lap as his powers healed the damaged boy and he smiled. A genuine smile...because for the first time he wondered if they might be able to pull this off with losing either of these boys.

TBC…

**Author's Note:** _Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed. Also, when I watched the season finale this last week I couldn't help but wonder how cool it would be to have a hybrid version of Dean. But I guess that was not to be. I'm so interested to see where they take this next season, but I hope they maintain the brother's realationship. I'm tired of seeing them at odds all the time and I sure as hell don't want to see Dean at the mercy of Crowley, or placing more emphasis on that connection than the one with Sam. But I guess we'll have to see what happens. _

**Please Review: Even if it's just to post your opinion about the finale, I would like to know. :)**


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